Rhetorical Analysis

Rhetorical Analysis

Summary and Claim

In his article Republicans Celebrate Trump Getting Away With It At State Of The Union, Matt Fuller outlines the events that occurred during President Donald Trump’s state of the union address. The address occurred on the eve of a vote by the senate to indict or acquit the President on the impeachment charges from Congress. The address in which the President took eighty minutes outlines the achievements of his administration since his inauguration. Matt Fuller highlights the key moments of the speech which Donald Trump delivered to the mostly divided house. Trump mentioned the skyrocketing economy, the creation of jobs and the plummeting unemployment rates among the greatest achievements of his administration so far. The claims were positively received by the Republicans section of the House of Representatives while the Democrats stayed quiet during the applauses. However, there were bipartisan applauses whenever the President touched on matters that favoured both sides. Such matters included the paid leaves for both men and women of America.

The highlight from the speech at the state of the union address was the President staying away from addressing the impending Senate vote on whether he was guilty or not. Fuller writes that was a significant omission from the President given that the state of the union address was on the eve of the Senate vote. Fuller also writes about the admiration that Republican representatives have on President Donald Trump. A lot of the Congressmen and women lined up to have a moment with the President as he passed on his way towards the podium for the address. The Republican did not miss a moment to applaud the President even at a time when what he talked about contradicted their policies and beliefs. About the Republican representatives Fuller emphasizes that, “They’ve all become loyal foot soldiers for Trump. Instead of being in on the joke, they are the joke” (Fuller n.p). Such examples show that President Donald Trump has fully taken over the Republican Party.

The President has everyone under his thumb, ready to do his bidding. It was further shown by the fact that the Republicans occasionally interrupted the President’s speech to applause for non-existent credits.

The third highlight of the speech at the state of the union address was the reaction of the Democratic Party representatives. Three of the representatives from the Democratic Party chose to stay from the address. One of the party representatives, Alexander Ocasio Cortez even said that she could not “normalize Trump’s lawless conduct and subversion of the Constitution” (Fuller n.p). However, for the ones that were present for the state of the union address, it was more of a sombre moment sitting through the speech of the President. The night was full of discontent from the section of Democrats who at one time shouted at the President about the HR 3Bill which sought to reduce the prices of pharmaceuticals in America. The President had insinuated that he would take upon the big pharmaceutical companies to reduce the prices of drugs. However, the apex of the night from the Democrats was when the House Speaker Nancy Pelosi ripped apart the President’s speech. She also offered a perfect response to the President’s address mostly due to the huge numbers of Democrats in the house. The President concluded his speech by thanking Senator Mitch McConnell for getting two of his favourite judges into the Supreme Court bench. Matt Fuller has achieves an effective representation of the article by use of rhetorical appeals which have served to raise the emotional aspects of the audience.

Exigency and Kairos

The article by Matt Fuller meets its exigency due to the short time the author used to outline the occurrences at the state of the union address by the President. The author shows great journalism by giving a vivid description of minute by minute occurrence at the Capitol building. The importance of this kind of journalism is that the audience is quickly informed of the events and highlights that take place in a high profile meeting as such. The article delivers the actions and reactions from opposing parties in the country. The promptness of the article might also come short because it does not describe everything that occurred on the day. The article by Matt Fuller looks like a one-sided view of the occurrences at the Capitol building. The exigencies required of an article should be prompt but also take into consideration both sides of the coin. The article by Fuller is exigent but is a little bit one-sided on its criticism of the Republicans.

The article achieves a kairos by being authored immediately after the speech at the state of the union address. The article is also critical of the President’s lies and half-truths that invade most of the speech. The criticisms levied on the President, and the Republican house representatives are timely and required. The criticisms serve to rebuke the house representatives for being so obsessed with President Donald Trump that they have turned a blind eye to some of the unconstitutional acts that the President has done. Most of the Republican house representatives have even abandoned their beliefs to show their undying support for Donald Trump. Fuller further goes ahead to show how the President has made senators kill of bills that were meant to reduce the prices of the drugs. Further, the president strict policies about immigrants at the border receive criticism from the article due to the poor way the administration has decided to go about it. The article, therefore, achieves its kairos objective by criticizing the President’s speech at the right time with the right choice of words.

Ethos, Pathos and Logos

Fuller’s ethos is a crucial aspect of his article according to modus operandi of journalists. Journalists are bound to be critics of the governments of the time. President Trump has always been commenting on how the media has been biased against him. Most parts of the article display the culture of journalism of which Fuller originates. He draws from other journalists who have been critical of President Trump’s administration and abrasive utterances. However, Fuller attacks the President on weak points with claims on lies in the speech. He fails to mention what the half-truths and the lies he claims that Trump made during the speech. Fuller’s main intention is to paint the speech less positively and also rebuke the Republicans. From a perspective of journalism, he achieves the objective of describing the lows of the day.

On the application of pathos, Fuller is not balanced on his criticism of the President and his republican party. He fails to appreciate that even the Democratic Party has its own shortcomings. However, Fuller gets it right in his criticism of the ruling party and further supports his arguments with the way Republican representatives have forgotten about their morals and beliefs. He writes that the Republicans have become a joke under the leadership of President Trump. The sentiments of Fuller are not likely to go well with the audience who are American voters. The voters mostly have come to agree with most of Trump’s policies and his promises and the article therefore does not augur well with them. However, the pathos idea of Fuller’s article is to raise the emotions among his audience and he achieves that in a spectacular fashion. By stating that the best response of Democrats came from Nancy Pelosi tearing down the President’s speech gives a significant hint on where the author stands. As such it would be hard to change the emotional perception of Republicans who would view the article as partisan.

The article achieves a logos aspect since the presentation is backed by pieces of evidence. The author describes the reaction of the Republicans towards the President. He further provides statistics as to the support the President enjoys from the Republican Party. Only two senators from the party requested for witnesses to grace the hearing of the President’s trial in the senate. He further states how every President statement received applause from the Republicans faction. These pieces of evidence are verifiable, therefore making the logical assertions. It would also be hard for the author to report something that did not occur during the address. Fuller, therefore, uses these descriptions to convince the audience of what he is presenting.

Conclusion

The aspects covered by the article help in informing the audience about the gist of what the president speech majored on. The author delves into the particles of the speech by mentioning the mode of delivery. The article further describes the reception of the speech by both factions of the divide. Fuller does well to give background information on the developments towards the day of the state of the union address. The author further discusses the events that would succeed the day of the speech. The following day was to be a vote on the impeachment trial of the President. Subsequently, the audience is well informed on the events prior to and after the address by the speech. The article, therefore, meets it exigency demands by keeping the audience informed as to future events and possible outcomes.

Subsequently, the article by Fuller serves to provide critical points to look at the administration of Donald Trump and his control of the Republican Party. He might be overzealous on his criticisms on the members of the party, but he provides some logical points. He also appeals to the Republicans to be a little critical of the President to ensure he is kept under checks and balances. With positive criticisms, the President can implement policies aimed at developing the nation as opposed to serving self-interests. The article heavily leans on the side, and that also paints a partisan picture to the audience.