To: Professor Wilson

From: Fabien Acher

Date: 9/15/2020
Subject: Rhetorical Analysis of The Lincoln Project Advertisement “Fallen Heroes”

INTRODUCTION
The purpose of this piece is to describe, analyze, and evaluate the rhetoric in the advertisement “Fallen
Heroes”.

DESCRIPTION

This piece is from the Lincoln Project, which is an organization that was started by Republicans who are
against Trump. It is 2 minutes and 19 seconds long, on Youtube, but is being aired on television. It was
released on Youtube September 8, 2020. The piece is geared towards people who support Trump. For if
there were no Trump supporters, there would be no need for this ad. The purpose is to show the viewer
that Trump is unfit to be president because of his own position on the US military. The medium is an
advertisement that uses very specific and strategic use of video/audio effects to arouse certain feelings
in the viewer. A slow and somber version of the Star Spangle Banner is playing throughout the ad. The
culture this video is representing is the view that many Americans hold towards the US military,
including pride and patriotism.

ANALYSIS

Opening
The ad opens with what seems to be an attack on the current president, with gloomy pictures and thee
narrator using the words “draft dodger”, “dishonorable”, “unfit for office”. Here lies the thesis of the ad.

US Prisoner of War Insult

The first example of Trump being unfit for office starts off with a brief account of John McCain’s 5 years
in a Vietnam “hell hole” POW camp. The narrator says McCain “… refused early release unless every
American was released.” This alongside the vivid archival footage of John McCain brings about strong
feelings for US POW’s, exemplifying pathos and giving ethos to John McCain. The guitar part of the Star
Spangle Banner stops, leaving just some eerie chords while a clip of Trump disparaging McCain’s
heroism is played (arousing pathos). Trump says, “He’s a war hero ‘cause he was captured. I like people
that weren’t captured, okay?”. This quote could be said to bring about negative ethos for Donald Trump.
It pushes the audience to judge the president by his derogatory rhetoric. The first part brings about
feelings of patriotism and pride in our war heroes. Then this is immediately contrasted with Trump’s
seemingly baseless critique of why McCain’s heroism is unwarranted. The stark contrast between

Acher 1
rhetoric of pride in our military to Trump’s belittling of a national hero creates the idea in the viewer’s
mind of Trump disrespecting the very military he is in charge of (logos).

Fallen Soldier Defamation

The next example of unfitness for office that is showed is Trump’s refusal to visit the “cemetery of our
fallen in France”. The ad shows videos of military cemetery ceremonies (pathos), while quoting (through
narration and closed captioning) Trump’s reason for not going, “Why should I go to that cemetery? Its
filled with losers.” Then citing the source, The Atlantic, and in big letters, “FOX NEWS CONFIRMS”. It is
common knowledge that many Trump supporters consider Fox News a reliable source of information. So
by stating that Fox News “confirms” this quote, it gives the narration and closed captioning the audience
two modes absorbing this information, visual and auditory, ethos, in an attempt to further get the point
across with logic and reasoning that Trump does not only not support the US military, but actively
defames respected military personnel.

Dishonorable Soldiers
In the third point raised in this ad, Trump is shown making comments about US soldiers who fought in
Afghanistan bringing back millions of dollars to make themselves rich. Through logical reasoning, this
part shows that the commander in chief distrusts the very soldiers working on the front lines. Continuing
to quote him, “I don’t get it, what was in it for them?”. This clip and quote of Trump himself brings
about pathos in the audience, aiming to discredit any viewer’s feelings of pride in America’s top military
commander.

The Ignorant US Generals

One minute through the ad, the narrator brings up the fact that Trump mocks US generals, then jumps
to a video of a Trump rally, “I know more about ISIS than the generals do, believe me.” This part uses
logos to attribute a negative ethos to the president.

George H. W. Bush is a Looser

From 1:07 until 1:31 archival footage of George H. W. Bush is shown along with the story about how in
WWII he flew back from his mission while his plane was damaged and on fire, successfully completing
his mission. This video/audio arouses vivid feelings of respect and patriotism. It then quickly jumps to
Trump’s comment on George H. W. Bush as being a “looser”. This quick jump is supposed to take the
idea of pride in one’s nation’s military heroism and associate it to the president’s disrespect for the
military, ultimately taking the feelings of patriotism and contrasting it with Trump’s fascism. This section
used logic to connect the dichotomy in the pathos of Trump’s views and his supporters’ views, further
damaging his ethos.

Draft-Dodging DNA

Acher 2
Immediately after the previous clip ends with the word “loser”, the clip quickly jumps to a picture of
Donald Trump’s sons, narrating, at 1:32, that “no Trump family member has ever served in the military.”
This is using timing to link the word “loser” with Trump’s family’s habit of draft-dodging. It again is using
logical techniques to arouse feelings that discredit the president.

Vietnam = Dating
The narrator uses the previous fact that Trump’s family has dodged the draft to bring up the next point,
which is that Trump has made remarks about the war in Vietnam being comparable to dating. The scene
starts with footage that appears to be from Vietnam with audio of Trump speaking over it about the
dating game being relatable to the war. The visual then switches to Trump partying with women, all the
while comparing his life to those who served in Vietnam. For anyone watching who has experienced
Vietnam or any war, Trump’s comments seem naïve, to say the least. The progression of the video from
archival Vietnam footage to Trump partying is meant to show the arrogance and ignorance in Trump’s
actions and comments. This example of Trump’s unfitness for office is exemplified by using logos to
arouse pathos in the audience.

“This Was Much Easier

The final example in this ad, before the conclusion is a short video and audio clip of Trump giving a
purple heart. He says “I always wanted to get the purple heart. This was much easier.” Although there
seems to be nothing wrong with what he is saying here, it is the context of the ad that gives this excerpt
meaning. Trump saying he wanted the purple heart in context to all of the disrespectful, arrogant things
mentioned in the ad makes one think of hypocrisy. Trump disparages and demeans the military and
those who have served yet he wants to receive one of the highest military honors… it is simply idiotic.
This example uses logos to damage Trump’s ethos.

Conclusion
The conclusion starts with the narrator saying, “on November 3 rd, its time to throw this loser coward out
of our White House.” Then the narrator says and the screen flashes with the words, “AMERICA OR
TRUMP?” The first sentence uses Trump’s own words against him. The final sentence makes a very
simple yet impactful statement, which in context with the rest of the ad summarizes a choice that all
voting Americans will have to make in this near future. Then the ad closes with a subsequent call to
action, showing how to support the Lincoln Project.

EVALUATION

I believe this ad is extremely impactful. The reason I chose this ad for this project is because for some
time now, I have been attempting to have empathy for those that support the right. By trying to view
the right from their own perspective, I can better communicate and perhaps share some insight into
why certain ideologies are not completely solid. The reason I bring this up is because this ad is a great
example of the use of appealing to specific values, military pride, and patriotism to change the minds of

Acher 3
those who support the so-called president. I do not have data on this but, if one were to survey Trump
supporters on the importance of the military to them, I think most of them would claim that they do
support the US military. The eight examples in this ad are directly appealing to the values that Trump
supporters supposedly hold. I believe this text is ethical. There is not any rhetoric in this ad that struck
me as unethical. I am open to hearing out any reasons for why this piece is unethical. The only part of
the ad that struck me as a possible turn off to Trump supporters is the opening lines calling Trump a
coward, a draft dodger, unfit to be president. This could be a turn off for people who support him, and
they very well might turn the channel or disregard anything that comes after. This piece is very
convincing and has been well designed in regard to the video/audio synchronization, specific music
placement, narrative, ordering of examples in a way that flows, the heavy use of contrast, footage and
audio quotes, and of course, ethos, logos and pathos.

Acher 4