Donald Trump’s use of Twitter during his campaign ahead of the US presidential election of 2016 – why Trump’s tweets are emotionally effective

Abstract

This paper shows how Donald Trump uses Twitter to spread emotions, more specifi cally fear and anger. Noteworthy is the fact that Trump’s discourse is not primarily emotional. Although anger may sound legitimate, fear is viewed as an emotion one should be ashamed of. Rather than verbalising these emotions, discrediting his opponents – i.e. other candidates and journalists – and legitimising his own discourse for the sake of moral values are the hallmarks of Trump’s rhetoric. By presenting the future as precarious and uncertain, he stands as the only one able to make America powerful and infl uential (again). He adopts the stance of a victim, which is amplifi ed by the impact that social networks have on communities in terms of affi liation.