Examples of dishonorable speech by Donald Trump:
Jan. 6, 2021:
Donald Trump, U.S. president, Jan. 6, 2021:
(Video; Transcript)
“This was a fraudulent election, but we can’t play into the hands of these people. We have to have peace. So go home. We love you. You’re very special. You’ve seen what happens. You see the way others are treated that are so bad and so evil. I know how you feel. But go home and go home at peace.” Dishonorable speech categories: #5 (level 1) accusing someone of wrongdoing without supporting data, #1 (level 3) name calling/insults (“evil”), #11 misrepresenting reality (mind reader – “I know how you feel”). Suggested more honorable version (assuming Trump believes these things): Perhaps you, as I, believe some degree of election fraud led to my opponent winning the Electoral College vote. Even if that’s true, I believe we have to have peace. So please go home. We love you. We don’t want anybody hurt. Now go home and go home at peace.
Note: Trump made the statement “We don’t want anybody hurt” earlier in his speech. The statement, “we love you,” may be honorable speech if it’s meant as loving people for being human beings, regardless of their actions, good or bad.
Jan. 4, 2021:
Donald Trump, U.S. president, via Twitter, Jan. 4, 2021:
(Tweet)
“The ‘Surrender Caucus’ within the Republican Party will go down in infamy as weak and ineffective ‘guardians’ of our Nation, who were willing to accept the certification of fraudulent presidential numbers!” Dishonorable speech categories: #1 (level 1) name calling/insults, #11 misrepresenting reality (future prediction), #5 (level 1) accusations of wrongdoing without supporting data (“fraudulent”). Suggested more honorable version: no suggestion.
Dec. 15, 2020:
Donald Trump, via Twitter, Dec. 15, 2020:
(https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump/status/1338852676654821376)
“68% error rate in Michigan Voting Machines. Should be, by law, a tiny percentage of one percent. Did Michigan Secretary of State break the law? Stay tuned!” Dishonorable speech categories: #11 misrepresenting reality (cherry picking data), #4 (level 2) implying wrongdoing. Suggested more honorable version: no suggestion.
Dec. 8, 2020:
Donald Trump, remarks at Operation Warp Speed Vaccine Summit, Dec. 8, 2020:
(https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0Q7MxRsKxFQ; transcript: https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefings-statements/remarks-president-trump-operation-warp-speed-vaccine-summit/)
(Regarding allegations of voter fraud) “Now, let’s see whether or not somebody has the courage — whether it’s a legislator or legislatures, or whether it’s a justice of the Supreme Court or a number of justices of the Supreme Court. Let’s see if they have the courage to do what everybody in this country knows is right.” Dishonorable speech categories: #11 misrepresenting reality (exaggeration – “everybody”), #4 (level 2) implied wrongdoing (if they don’t do what “everybody… knows is right”). Suggested more honorable version: We’ll see if our legal actions are upheld in the Supreme Court, and/or our legal arguments influence state legislatures to act.
Dec. 2, 2020:
Donald Trump, statement from the White House, Dec. 2, 2020:
(https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump/status/1334240039639937026; transcript: https://www.rev.com/blog/transcripts/donald-trump-speech-on-election-fraud-claims-transcript-december-2)
“My opponent was told to stay away from the election, don’t campaign. ‘We don’t need you. We’ve got it. This election is done.’ In fact, they were acting like they already knew what the outcome was going to be. They had it covered and perhaps they did, very sadly for our country. It was all very, very strange.” Dishonorable speech categories: #5 (level 1) accusing of wrongdoing without supporting data (“my opponent was told” – by whom?), #4 (level 2) implying wrongdoing, #13 offering opinion as fact. Suggested more honorable version: no suggestion.
Nov. 25, 2020:
Donald Trump, via phone to a PA State Legislature hearing on election issues, Nov. 25, 2020:
(https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump/status/1331695288231333890)
(Talking about Democrats who allegedly “pushed” Republican observers out of a building where votes were being counted) “But they’re bad people, they’re horrible people, and they’re people who don’t love our country.” Dishonorable speech categories: #1 (level 2) name calling/insults, #12 (level 1) declaring someone to have bad intent or beliefs. Suggested more honorable version: no suggestion. “Suggested dishonorability sentence”: 15 years.
Nov. 24, 2020:
Donald Trump, at the White House, Nov. 24, 2020:
(https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9Jg6sXiLGWs)
(Talking about the Dow Jones Industrial Average going above 30,000 for the first time ever) “Nobody thought they’d ever see it.” Dishonorable speech category: #11 misrepresenting reality (if take literally: mind reader; if take figuratively: exaggeration). Suggested more honorable version: no suggestion.
Nov. 22, 2020:
Donald Trump, addressing the G20 meeting, Nov. 22, 2020:
(https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FY_RupFEgc8)
“The Paris Accord was not designed to save the environment, it was designed to kill the American economy.” Dishonorable speech categories: #12 (level 1) assuming bad intent, #13 opinion offered as fact. Suggested more honorable version: no suggestion.
Nov. 16, 2020:
Donald Trump, via Twitter, Nov. 16, 2020:
(https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump/status/1328370030678044675)
“European Countries are sadly getting clobbered by the China Virus. The Fake News does not like reporting this!” Dishonorable speech categories: #14 (level 1) blaming without looking at broader responsibility, #1 (level 2) name calling, #11 misrepresenting reality (mind reader), #33 (level 1) promoting hate/prejudice. Suggested more honorable version: European Countries are currently seeing a wave of new COVID-19 cases.
Nov. 10, 2020:
Donald Trump, via Twitter, Nov. 10, 2020:
(https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump/status/1326342742801326083)
“Andrew McCabe was exposed for who he is today in the U.S. Senate. He was totally destroyed – an ignorant fool.” Dishonorable speech categories: #1 (level 1) name calling/insults, #13 opinion offered as fact. Suggested more honorable version: no suggestion.
Early morning Nov. 4, 2020:
Donald Trump press conference, early morning Nov. 4:
(https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KtNZV7qezMM)
“Millions and millions of people voted for us tonight, and, uh, a very sad group of people is trying to disenfranchise that group of people. And we won’t stand for it.” Dishonorable speech categories: #1 (level 2) insults, #5 (level 1) accusing someone of wrongdoing without supporting data. Suggested more honorable version: Millions and millions of people voted for us tonight, and I thank all of them.
Nov. 2, 2020:
Donald Trump campaign rally speech, Grand Rapids, MI, Nov. 2, 2020:
“Sleepy Joe Biden’s against guns.” Dishonorable speech categories: #1 (level 1) name calling, #7 (level 1) misrepresenting what someone says to make it sound bad. Suggested more honorable version: [give specifics of what you don’t agree with in Biden’s past support for and proposed future firearm policies].
“He’s [Biden’s] against God.” Dishonorable speech categories: #12 (level 1) declaring someone to have bad intent or bad beliefs. Suggested more honorable version: no suggestion.
Nov. 1, 2020:
Donald Trump campaign rally speech, Dubuque, IA, Nov. 1, 2020:
(youtube.com/watch?v=pSfWre0hnmQ. Transcript used: https://www.rev.com/blog/transcripts/donald-trump-rally-speech-transcript-dubuque-iowa-november-1)
“We had the greatest economy in the history of our country, and then we got hit by the China plague, which we’re not going to forget.” Dishonorable speech categories: #4 (level 1) implied incompetence/wrongdoing, #14 (level 1) blame, #33 (level 1) promoting hate/prejudice. Suggested more honorable version: With the stock market at all-time highs, and the lowest unemployment rate in about 50 years, I’d say we had the greatest economy in the history of our country, before the COVID-19 pandemic began.
“He [Biden] wants to raise your taxes. And it’s not him. He has no clue. He’s shot, okay? The guy has no clue. You know it, I know it, we’re all trying to be nice. But I knew him also for a while, he’s not a nice guy. If he was I wouldn’t talk this way.” Dishonorable speech categories: #7 (level 1) misrepresenting what someone says to make it sound bad, #1 (levels 1&2) insults, #13 opinion offered as fact, #25 (level 1) ends justify the means. Suggested more honorable version: Biden has said that, if elected, he’ll raise corporate tax rates, and taxes on people making more than $400,000 per year.
Aug. 27, 2020:
Donald Trump Republican party campaign nomination acceptance speech for president, Aug. 27, 2020:
“Our opponents say that redemption for you can only come from giving power to them.” This is likely #7 misrepresenting what someone says. (In his presidential nomination acceptance speech, Biden mentioned the “soul of this nation,” he did not mention individual souls. But Trump does not specify who exactly “our opponents” are, nor what particular statement(s) he may be referring to, so we can’t say for sure – it is still worth applying a “sentence” to this, I believe, due to it being Trump’s responsibility to be more clear so that his representation of particular statements can be independently verified). “This is a tired anthem spoken by every repressive movement throughout history.” #9 comparison to something bad: repressive movements. “But in this country, we don’t look to career politicians for salvation.” #33 promoting prejudice/hate against “career politicians.” “In America, we don’t turn to government to restore our souls; we put our faith in almighty God.” Suggested more honorable version: My opponent has described this election as being part of a “battle for the soul of this nation.” I do not agree with this characterization. (Note: a possible follow-on sentence that would still contain some dishonor – #11 misrepresenting reality by the straw man fallacy, i.e., not refuting the actual meaning behind Biden’s statement – would be: In America, many of us put our faith in almighty God, and look to Him, not our government, for salvation.)
“Joe Biden spent his entire career outsourcing their dreams and the dreams of American workers, offshoring their jobs, opening their borders and sending their sons and daughters to fight in endless foreign wars, wars that never ended.” #14 (level 1) blame – it’s not all Biden’s doing, #10 saying Biden’s doings were bad without acknowledging the good parts. Suggested more honorable version: Joe Biden served our country as a senator or vice-president during times when some companies hired people in other countries to do jobs previously done by American workers, during times when our borders were more open, and during times of foreign wars, and thus bears some responsibility for these things. (Note: some definition or measure of what “open” means should be provided since this vague word could be taken as a negative or a positive in the context of borders.)
“In the Left’s backward view, they do not see America as the most free, just and exceptional nation on earth.” #12 (level 1) declaring someone to have bad beliefs – this is actually a subset of #11 misrepresenting reality through mind reader. “Instead, they see a wicked nation that must be punished for its sins.” #11 misrepresenting reality through mind reader (and also #12 (level 1)). Suggested more honorable version: I believe America is the most free, just and exceptional nation on earth, but I do not recollect Democrats often talking about this. Instead, I recall many Democrats talking about certain injustices they say are occurring in America.