Friday, October 14, 2016

President Addresses National Threat

     As election day approaches, the American people and media continue to discover more about Donald Trump. I stumbled across this video today and thought it is significant to the discussion of rhetoric on the campaign trail. While Obama is not running for a third term he has endorsed Hillary Clinton for president. This speech directly pertains to why Hillary should be president because Obama explicitly says why Donald Trump cannot be president.
     The prominent rhetorical argument in the speech is ethos. Obama reacts to the recording of Trump talking about sexually assaulting women. Obama says that Trump clearly does not have the morals and values that the republican party claims to promote. Obama also points out that the Republican party cannot control Trump. He connects Trumps actions to the decline in leadership and responsibility of the Republican senate. This indirectly characterizes Trump as noxious. If Trump is dismantling the Republican party from the inside out, what will he do to America if we give him the chance? Obama further explains why Trump is a terrible option and is does not represent the American people or American values. Obama says that no decent person would brag or joke about the things Trump has. No decent person would even think about doing those things (in reference to the recording of Trump talking about sexually assaulting women). This argument is at face value logos. Obviously the American people want a decent person as president. The argument is much more effective when looking at a ethos perspective. Trump is not a decent person if he is the type of person to treat women so poorly.
    I am worried about this election because the more I learn about Trump the more I fear for the country's future, considering he is the republican nominee. At the same time I have a twisted form of excitement. I wonder "What more has Trump said or done?" what I already know is crazy and almost surreal. Should I be ashamed of that feeling given that he has the potential to be my next president? I do know that the rest of this election is going to be a wild ride.

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