Donald Trump’s Speaking Style

The maverick speaking style of U.S. President, Donald Trump, is reflected both through his accent and his delivery. Despite being a billionaire, Trump has kept a working-class New York accent, which he has used to his advantage. Guo (2016) cites Michael Newman, a linguist at Queens College in New York City, as saying:

“Democrat or Republican, in an age where trust in politicians is at a minimum, it is not hard to see the attraction of that blunt aspect of the New York image… People do not perceive the New York style of speaking as particularly attractive or high-status. But they do associate it with competence, aggressiveness and directness.” (Newman in Guo, 2016).

Donald Trump’s Speaking Style

Transcript of extract

Interviewer: but ˈisn’t it ˈunamerican and ˈwrong …to ˈdiscriminate ˈagainst ˈpeople.. ˈbased on ˈtheir ˈreligion..
Trump: but ˈJimmy …I’m ˈfor it ..but ˈlook…. we ˈhave.. ˈpeople.. ˈcoming.. ˈinto our ˈcountry.. that are ˈlooking to ˈdo.. ˈtremendous.. ↑ˈharm….you ˈlook at the two .. ˈlook at ↑ˈParis.. ˈlook at what ˈhappened in ˈParis … I mean ˈthese ˈpeople.. they did ˈnot ˈcome from ˈSweden… ˈOK …ˈlook at what ˈhappened in ˈParis… ˈlook at what ˈhappened ˈlast ˈweek.. in ↑ˈCalifornia…with with, you ˈknow… ˈfourteen ˈpeople ˈdead… ˈother ˈpeople ˈgoing to ˈdie.., ..they’re ˈso ˈbadly ˈinjured… we ˈhave a ˈreal ↑ˈproblem..

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^{Reference
Tannen, D. (1984) Conversational Style: Analyzing Talk Among Friends. New York:, Ablex Publishing.
Guo. J. (2016) What’s up with Donald Trump’s voice. Blogpost Feb 9 2016. Accessed May 2018.}