A Critical Discourse Analysis of President Donald Trump’s Speeches during the Coronavirus Pandemic Crisis

Abstract

This study investigates the potential ideological stances reflected in President Trump’s speeches during the coronavirus crisis through the use of certain lexical items and grammatical constructions, including modal structures, comparative and superlative forms and pronouns. Two speeches delivered by Trump in two different phases of the coronavirus crisis are selected and analyzed in light of Fairclough’s (1995) CDA three-dimensional model. The study found that Trump used linguistic devices to emphasize concepts related to America’s superiority and supremacy, national unity, citizens’ involvement, and self-glorification. In addition, egoism was also stressed through the use of the pronouns “I” and “we”.