In a speech that touched on America’s darkest days and most inspirational leaders, Ukraine’s embattled president made a powerful call for stronger action on Russia.
The impacts of our words should be of greater concern in our political discourse.
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If we learn how to disengage from communication circuits that lay the groundwork for fear and aggression, we have a better chance of managing conflict constructively.
Delivered under the eyes of history.
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Billed as a speech from a leader making daring decisions to fix the nation, the prime minister’s conference appearance rapidly descended into jokes about beavers.
A mural depicting Breonna Taylor is seen being painted at Chambers Park on July 5, 2020 in Annapolis, Maryland.
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Lee M. Pierce, State University of New York, College at Geneseo
When there is nothing new to say, pegging news stories to the anniversaries of the deaths of Black Americans objectifies the victims and helps make violence ordinary.
Instead of asking how universities might benefit from shifting courses online permanently, we ought to ask how students might suffer from fewer opportunities for lived experience and practice.
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Metaphors are not used for their own sake in politics, but as part of a strategy to persuade a particular audience to accept a point of view, and act accordingly
Fringe groups have long understood that capturing the public’s attention is the best way to spread their views.
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For many extremist groups, a primary goal is to spread their ideology. Costumes and uniforms – even ridiculous ones – are a form of spectacle that can garner attention and interest.
The lines between political fandom and sports fandom have blurred.
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Researchers find that the most devoted fans take their team’s defeats personally and often blame losses on the refs or cheating. Sound familiar?
Trump addresses a crowd in Dalton, Georgia, on Jan. 4, the night before the state’s U.S. Senate runoff.
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The president’s language sounded less presidential and more inflammatory in the weeks leading up to the riots.
On January 6, 2021, Donald Trump addressed his supporters in Washington. Shortly afterwards, thousands of them will forcibly enter the Capitol.
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In his January 6 speech in Washington DC, Donald Trump urged his supporters to force their way onto Capitol Hill, is a perfect compendium of his inflammatory populist rhetoric.
A video screen displays Donald Trump’s face as he prepares to address a crowd of his supporters.
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Kurt Braddock, American University School of Communication
Words have consequences. And decades of research supports the contention that Donald Trump’s words could in fact incite people to mount an insurrection at the US Capitol.
Far-right and ultra-nationalist groups, including the Northern Guard, Proud Boys and individuals wearing Soldiers of Odin patches, gathered to protest the government’s lawsuit settlement with Canadian torture victim Omar Khadr in Toronto in October 2017.
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As the raid on the U.S. Capitol has shown, some kinds of rhetoric can set fire to the world — and it exists in Canada, too. Here’s how to tamp it down and focus on positive forms of rhetoric.
It’s hard to be patient.
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Donald Trump said followers of conspiracy theory ‘are very much against pedophilia.’ What he didn’t mention was the demonic imagery and language that peppers QAnon posts.
Trump, after downplaying the seriousness of COVID-19, ended up contracting a serious case of the virus himself.
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Trump uses more religious terms in his set-piece addresses than any other president in the last 100 years.
With the American flag reflected in the teleprompter, President Donald Trump speaks at a campaign rally at Duluth International Airport on Sept. 30, 2020, in Duluth, Minn.
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Because dramatic tension fuels attention, Trump’s words work to generate tension, anxiety and conflict. We need to react with civility, care and calm to undo the cycle of attention and persuasion.