Jennifer Mercieca

Dr. Jennifer Mercieca is an award-winning historian of American political rhetoric. She is Professor in the Department of Communication and Journalism at Texas A&M University and is a Contributing Editor for Zócalo Public Square and columnist for Resolute Square.

Jennifer writes about American political discourse, especially as it relates to citizenship, democracy, and the presidency. Jennifer has published three books about political rhetoric: Founding Fictions, The Rhetoric of Heroic Expectations: Establishing the Obama Presidency, and Demagogue for President: The Rhetorical Genius of Donald Trump.

Her scholarship has been published in The Quarterly Journal of Speech, Presidential Studies Quarterly, Rhetoric & Public Affairs, Argumentation & Advocacy, and Rhetoric Society Quarterly.

She is a member of the Editorial Boards of The Quarterly Journal of Speech, Rhetoric Society Quarterly, Southern Communication Journal, Rhetoric & Public Affairs, and the Texas A&M University Press.

She is a 2016 recipient of the Texas A&M Association of Former Students Distinguished Achievement Award in Teaching, the highest student award given to faculty for teaching at Texas A&M University. My book Demagogue for President: The Rhetorical Genius of Donald Trump is a 2021 PROSE Award Winner for Excellence in Government & Politics and a 2020 Foreword Indies Bronze winner for Government & Politics.

She has written about rhetoric and politics for The Conversation, Zócalo Public Square, USA Today, Washington Post, and other major media outlets.

​She has been interviewed about rhetoric and politics by the BBC World News, NPR's All Things Considered, NPR's 1A, Diane Rehm, The New York Times, CNN, The Guardian, Vice News, Australia's ABC Radio, Slate, USA Today, and many other outlets throughout the United States and Worldwide.