Bryson Poe

Nia Patel
Conan Dhamra
Lamis Masaad
10/11/23
Wrds 1103-045
Dr. Blair
1

Final Draft of Inquiry Assignment Essay # 2

Inquiry Project (brainstorming) for Essay Assignment # 2

Analyzing Donald Trump's speech through various different strategies of fallacies

This speech by Donald Trump is very important because it shows how politicians use
misinformation and deception to further their own gains. The speech, which he gave at
Trump Tower in New York, was a turning point in both his campaign and presidency.
Using a variety of persuasive strategies, such as bandwagon appeal, creating false needs,
either/or arguments, and begging the question, Trump attempted to influence the public's
perception and emphasize the significance of topics like immigration and the wall
construction. Given that politicians, like Trump, frequently utilize these rhetorical devices
to bolster their public personas and promote their legislative agendas, this speech provides
an instructive case study of how these devices are used in political discourse. Strong
support and criticism were received for the speech, demonstrating the divisive nature of
topics.

Trump starts his speech by commenting on how many people are there to see him “Wow that is
some group of people... thousands.” This is a form of Bandwagon Appeal he utilized this to
animate the fact that he’s the more popular candidate in terms of the support provided by the
people. Beginning his speech this way makes it visible to the viewers that he’s the one that the
majority of the people are supporting, and the rest should simply follow the majority. With this
method it is powerful in underlining the paragon of his supporters and how abundant the
numbers are. By insisting that the number of the crowd is more than his opposition’s he’s
phycologically implying that his methods in leadership are greater due to the more support he
has received. Trump continues with his speech by stating “there has been no crowd like this”, he
makes this claim with the intention of making the audience feel special which in fact proves his
aim towards manipulating the rest of the viewers into a Bandwagon Appeal for their support. In
one instance when Trump was talking about unemployment someone from the crowd made
a statement and Trump took advantage of this situation by commenting on the outburst
and stating that there is a lot of people out there who can't get jobs, which insinuates that
people need him to change the economy in order for the employment rate to grow. He used
the outburst to manipulate the audience into a Bandwagon Appeal.
Bryson Poe
Nia Patel
Conan Dhamra
Lamis Masaad
Dr. Blair
Wrds 1103-045
10/24/2023
2

Donald Trump uses the Creating False Needs fallacy. Trump paints a vivid narrative portraying
the United States as being in a state of crisis, emphasizing that certain issues are far more severe
and immediate than they might objectively be. Notably, he underscores problems such as
immigration, economic decline, and national security, creating a sense of urgency and fear
among his audience. This approach serves to generate a perceived need for his proposed
solutions or policies, positioning himself as the solution to these purported crises. While there
may indeed be legitimate concerns surrounding these issues, the rhetorical style employed here
can magnify the sense of crisis and urgency, potentially leading to an exaggerated perception of
both the problems at hand and the solutions being offered.

In his presidential candidate announcement speech, Donanld Trump uses the “either/or” logical
fallacy by repeatedly stating that our country “does not have victories anymore”.This fallacy
works by simplifying complex issues by presenting the viewer as only having two possible
outcomes, ignoring the possibility that there may be a more wide range of possibilities. By
framing the situation as a choice between either having victories or not, Trump oversimplifies
the challenges that are faced by the nation.While trumples simple “victories or not” statement
may be convincing, it doesn't capture the full complexity of the challenges and achievements that
the United States faces. His fallacy is persuasive in making him seem as a superior candidate but
does accurately reflect the reality of the country's ups and downs. Another example of an
either/or fallacy is when Trump states “Obama is going to be out playing golf.” This was an
either/or fallacy because Trump is implying that Obama can either be playing golf or running our
country. He's ignoring the possibility of Obama both enjoying playing golf as a hobby and
successfully running the country.A final example of an either/or fallacy in trump's speech is
when he states “Then I looked at Rubio. He was unable to answer the question, is Iraq a good
thing or bad thing? He didn’t know. He couldn’t answer the question.How are these people
gonna lead us?”. This is an either/or fallacy because he is assuming that because he was unable
to answer one of the questions he is unable to lead us. He is disregarding the idea that although
he is unable to answer the question about Iraq he is still able to successfully lead the country. He
is oversimplifying the country's problems and making them seem as though they are all reliant on
the response to this question.

Trump uses the fallacy of “begging the question.” Begging the question is when the
speaker/ writer provides no support for his or her answer. An example of Trump begging
the question in his speech is "I will make America great again because I am the best
candidate to do so." Trump does not provide any evidence of him being the best candidate,
Bryson Poe
Nia Patel
Conan Dhamra
Lamis Masaad
Dr. Blair
Wrds 1103-045
10/24/2023
3

or at the minimum why his opponents are inferior. This is a perfect example of begging the
question as there is zero support for this statement. A second example is "I will bring back
jobs to America because I'm a successful businessman." This is another example of begging
the question because Trump provides no support or examples of his success as a
businessman and expects people to believe his claims. The last example is "We need to
secure our borders, and I am the only one who can do it effectively." There is once again no
supporting evidence for this claim, no other president has tried to secure our borders like
he has. He does not know how any of his opponents plan to deal with the borders, so his
claim is baseless.

In this essay, we have examined how Donald Trump's adept use of fallacies not only
influenced public perception but also shed light on the broader dynamics of persuasive
rhetoric in political campaigns. In Trump's presidential campaign, he strategically
employed various forms of fallacies to heighten the perception of urgency and advocate
that his leadership is the superior choice. Throughout his speeches and rhetoric’s, he
frequently made comparisons between the current state of America and other countries or
juxtaposed his own successes with his opposition's perceived failures. These tactics aimed
to persuade the audience to believe that he was the more favorable option for support.