Comments and discussion

In your analysis of Donald Trump’s immigration speech, you should consider commenting on those statements that are particularly interesting or controversial.

For example, you can look at which statements were disqualified by fact-checks and consider how Trump presented them as facts, using political propaganda to appeal to his audience by misleading them.

This includes several statements concerning Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama. For example, Trump states that “Hillary Clinton has pledged amnesty in her first 100 days, and her plan will provide Obamacare, Social Security and Medicare for illegal immigrants…” (ll. 122-124). Some parts of his statement are false, as no illegal immigrant can have access to Social Security benefits, while the word amnesty is twisting Clinton’s intention to “find pathways to citizenship”.

Another exaggerated statement concerning Clinton is: “Clinton’s plan would trigger a Constitutional Crisis unlike almost anything we have ever seen before. In effect, she would be abolishing the lawmaking powers of Congress in order to write her own laws from the Oval Office.” (ll. 220-223). The statement presents his opponent as a possible future dictator planning to abolish the rule of law, which is an overstatement meant to...