In *Demagogue for President* @jenmercieca explains how Trump uses 6 rhetorical strategies to exploit 3 pre-existing weaknesses in the public: distrust, polarization and frustration. My @Salon author interview: 1/9
salon.com/2020/07/04/the…
salon.com/2020/07/04/the…
Trump uses 3 rhetorical strategies to unify his supporters, and 3 divide the public as a whole. 1st unifying strategy is *ad populum*—appeal to the crowd: 2/9 
Trump's 2nd unifying strategy is American exceptionalism: 3/9
Trump's 3rd unifying strategy is paralipsis, translated colloquially as "I'm not saying/I'm just saying." Trump uses it to say the most outrageous things: 4/9
But paralipsis also helps enormously in building Trump's bond with his followers: 5/9
Trump's 1st divisive strategy is *ad hominem* attack, but if we focus on the attack itself, then it's successful, because the whole point is to distract: 6/9
Trump's 2nd divisive strategy is *ad baculum* "appeals to the stick," but he uses them much more sparingly *and* strategically than most critics realize. 7/9
Trump's 3rd divisive strategy is reification, treating people like objects. Here, again, there's more strategy & selectivity than critics might often assume: 8/9
These are just highlights. I say: "'Demagogue for President' should be a must-read for every political reporter in America, if they hope to finally hold Trump to account. Since they may well fail to read it, all the more reason you should read it, too" 9/9 salon.com/2020/07/04/the…
