Audience

Donald Trump delivered his presidential announcement speech in front of a live audience on the 16th of June 2015 at Trump Tower in Manhattan. However, his speech was not only directed to the live audience, but also to the American and international public who could see it on TV or online.

The audience gathered at Trump Tower was formed by members of the media and Donald Trump supporters, as indicated by the first lines of the speech: “Wow. Whoa. That is some group of people. Thousands. So nice, thank you very much. That's really nice.” (ll. 1-2)

In the video version, there are Trump supporters with placards, chanting lines such as “We want Trump”, and cheering and applauding. In the video, you can also hear that Trump chose to play music when he entered and when he officially announced that he was running for President. He chose the song “Rockin’ in the Free World” by Neil Young, who later stated that Trump used the song without permission and made it clear that he did not support the candidate. Trump’s use of this song suggests his intention to disrupt American politics with his non-traditional presidential platform.

The speaker’s target audience is made up of...