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Trump is creating a two-sided war. On one side are people and on the other side is the virus. By using martial terminology, he is attempting to unite the people against the virus. He is speaking to the American people in an effort to make it everyone’s problem in a sense. Rather than highlighting how the government is working for its people to create control, quell panic, develop an efficient testing system or vaccine, he is making the virus the whole country’s problem. This removes weight from his and his administration’s shoulders from actually doing any of the aforementioned things. He wants people to believe that the enemy is the virus and lack of hygiene rather than the administration’s sluggish response to the crisis.
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Trump uses these martial terms to show it is us Americans against the virus. To show a sense of unity and that instead of turning towards him with hate we should collectively use our energy against the Virus. Words like “Enemy”, “Fight” and “Defeat” are powerful words from any president. These words grab the nation’s attention and guides us to believe we are all on the same side of this battle. As a result, in order to be successful at the end we all must fight and defeat the enemy which is this COVID-19 virus. Trump’s wordplay makes people stop thinking about his actions in this matter and start thinking about the country’s well being.
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Trump is trying to instill a sense of pride in the American people during a down time. Saying things like defeat and fight are inspiring words that I think can help in boosting the morale of the country. With everyone on high alert, by saying that we will defeat this virus, it’s a guidance of hope and drive.
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President Trump is using martial terms to work to invoke a patriotic reaction. The coronavirus is not something to sit at home and feel sorry about, but rather an opportunity for America to rise up and defeat. Trump is trying to appeal to American’s sense of patriotism. AN effort to potentially boost moral and outlook on the current state of affairs. Trump wants Americans to believe that this isn’t going to be as bad of disaster as media portrays it to be. Trump wants people to have faith that we will overcome for multiple reasons. In effort to potentially save the falling stock market, boost national moral, and help grow his approval rates approaching reelection. Trump doesn’t want Americans to read into the scientists scary predictions of the reality of our predicament.
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I think Trump’s reason for using terms such as “enemy,” “fight,” and “defeat,” is to unite the country against this virus. Like mentioned earlier, this would imply that the country is not united. To this I would agree. I think the country is separated and has been for a majority of its existed. I think that in order to overcome this virus and this hard period of time for this country, the people have to unite in doing what it takes to defeat it, which right now is staying inside and away from people. The purpose of these words is to urge people to focus their efforts on overcoming this virus. I think that the country is not united in this effort either in that a lot of people are not practicing social distancing. I think Trump wants people to believe that if we unite, we can overcome.
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I don’t believe that these martial words are completely unique to this specific instance. Consider our fight against cancer etc. These words are used to derive a sense that this virus can be defeated and that we can gain the upper hand.
On a more sinister note, crisis has been used historically to derive fear in an effort to gain more power in instances of instability. This is a man using military terms when bone spurs kept him from fighting in the war. His perceptions of his power as President are incredibly contractual and also autocratic. He perceives politics as a method to gain what he wants. In a time like this marshal terms can be used to justify suspension of civil liberties, seizing of greater authority and suppression of criticism both in the press and by opposition parties. Consider his discussions in the Fox News Town Hall of March 24 when discussing federal aid to states, he seems to insinuate that aid to states depends on how the state treats the president stating, “It’s a two way street… They have to treat us well also” (https://www.businessinsider.com/trump-suggests-coronavirus-aid-to-governors-that-treat-us-well-2020-3). Relationships between states and the Federal Government are not and should not be transactional and the onset of a crisis does not mean this relationship can be manipulated.
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Trump is using these words because he wants to invoke feelings of patriotism into the American people. He wants to wage a “war” on the coronavirus and give the American people hope that we can defeat this virus. He also calls the coronavirus the “Chinese virus” because he wants Americans to feel negative feelings towards the virus. He wants us to believe that if we want to defeat this enemy, we have to unite by doing our part in sheltering in place and self-quarantining.
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I believe he wants his target audience to rally together in “defence”. There also a sense nationalism in “battles” and a sense of having to last and overcome a problem. I believe he wants people to be more at ease by thinking that it is more of a physical battle than it really is.
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Trump is using martial terminology to prove that the virus originated from China. he wants the US to be united by expressing that it’s us against the virus. he’s letting his people know that we can overcome the pandemic together. he is trying to use reassurance.
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I think that President Trump is using these words to describe this time because they were planning for riots and for break-ins. I think he wants his target audience either to be the people of the nation that have high stock of items and the high income or the low income people and people who may not have as much food and supplies as others. I think that defense is really going to be against others that live in our nation, not other countries. That is why people are fighting grocery stores for a roll of toilet paper.
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Personally, I don’t think the President has the brains to come up with something as intelligent as this rhetoric. The words “enemy”, “fight”, and “defeat” are, as we know, words used to describe battle or war. While we can talk about how these words are to unite us against the virus, I think he has very different and more selfish motives. Wartime presidents are historically much more likely to be re-elected. The framing of the virus as a war that Americans must fight is a great rhetoric for political re-election. I believe that the President (or more likely his aides and writers) have been trying to communicate to us (Americans) that he is leading us to battle, and to stop looking at the obvious issues that he himself has started, such as cutting the CDC budget and failing to replace the pandemic response team last year.
if you want a fact check:Did Trump Administration Fire the US Pandemic Response Team?
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