Thread by @Nat_Strobl_eng

Here's a quick #NatsAnalysis of Trump's statement. It's only a minute long and that's a stark contrast to Biden. He's doing the sandwich approach again. He hides what he needs to say between what he actually wants to say. In order:

https://twitter.com/DavidBegnaud/status/1346931096496193542

He starts with empathy. Empathy for the rioters. So he starts with feelings. And he gives them understanding and addresses their pain and hurt. In doing so, he gives them legitimacy. Something has been done to them and they are only acting on it.

That's important, bc that shifts the blame. It's not the people who are doing this that are to blame, it's that something has been done to them & they're just acting on it a little bit excessively. Trump is thus shifting responsibility toward Biden. Perpetrator-victim reversal.

Then he immediately repeats his mantra "The election was stolen from us." Not the election was rigged but stolen from US. There are only two sides left: we and them. Something was stolen from us. Manichean worldview: good versus evil. We must defeat the bad guys.

So a lost election is not only a lost election but a kind of final battle good versus evil. That's why this urgency and militancy. Because every victory for them is a massive loss for us. And you can't let "them" win. War logic.

To immediately murmur about the conspiracy: everybody knows it, especially the other side. Trump is the one who speaks the truths, tears away the veil and reveals. He is president, but here he makes himself a victim - because there are secret powerful forces that are against him.

Now comes the part that should have been at the beginning if he was serious: Go home. Remarkable is what comes after: "we have to have peace" with that he addresses people who think they are in a state of war. There is war and there is peace. Enough war played, now peace

After that he presents himself as "law and order" which is a staircase joke, but of course alludes to a right-wing self-image. And of course it is about protecting police officers. It does not per se condemn storming the Capitol but does not want to hurt the police.

It does not address politicians or the Capitol as a symbol of democracy. Not addressing them also speaks volumes. As president, he stands only before the police. Not in front of everyone else. He does not condemn the attacks on them. Absolutely remarkable.

The part where he calls for peace and go home is 10 seconds long. Before and after that is incitement, conspiracy thinking and legitimization. The 10 seconds are the middle part of the sandwich. The before and after is meant to stick: the opening and the closing.

Again, there's talk about the great injustice of the election. And that "they" stole it. Again, the responsibility is turned around: they even want what happened there and that's why you can't do it. You can always spin it that "they" are to blame.

He presents it as unique in his overwrought pathos. That further goads and swears in good vs. evil. It is not simply a lost election but a unique point in history. He evokes a heroic worldview here.

That's exactly what makes this so appealing: you're not just a simple guy and at the mercy of uncertain circumstances you can't act on, but a hero of the story fighting evil. You get destiny and depth. Always talking in superlatives.

And at the end, understanding and empathy like with a child: we love you and I understand your anger. It's all just not de-escalation. It's just a recall, but no distancing at all. Trump sees it as legitimate. This is the president of the United States.