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Trump's Public Expletives Another Break With Presidential Decorum

Steve Herman

   This story contains language some readers may find offensive.

   WHITE HOUSE -- At political rallies, on social media and during
   interviews, U.S. President Donald Trump is putting profanity in the
   public discourse to a degree unmatched by any previous American leader,
   according to some experts.

   "It is unprecedented in its publicness," said Benjamin Bergen, a
   professor in the department of cognitive science at the University of
   California-San Diego and director of the school's language and
   cognition lab.

   An analysis of Trump's expletives show they have becomemore frequent in
   recent months, part of a trend of trash talk that began with the
   Republican candidate back on the campaign trail in 2016.

   Coarse language

   Trump, at a political rally Friday night in Lake Charles, Louisiana,
   declared the Democrats know they cannot beat him next year, "so they're
   pursuing an illegal, invalid and unconstitutional bullshit
   impeachment."

   The previous evening, Trump told supporters at a rally in Minneapolis
   that 2020 Democratic presidential contender and former Vice President
   Joe Biden "was only a good vice president because he understood how to
   kiss (former President) Barack Obama's ass."

   During the 100-minute event, the president also used the phrase "son of
   a bitch."

   The president's coarse language has compelled the media establishment
   to print and broadcast words previously deemed unsuitable for its
   audiences.

   CNN, on October 2, changed its policy following a Trump tweet in which
   he accused Democrats of "wasting everyone's time and energy...," adding
   a familiar epithet in all capital letters.

     The Do Nothing Democrats should be focused on building up our
     Country, not wasting everyone's time and energy on BULLSHIT, which
     is what they have been doing ever since I got overwhelmingly elected
     in 2016, 223-306. Get a better candidate this time, you'll need it!
     -- Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) [1]October 2, 2019

   That was nearly identical to a comment he had made at a political rally
   in Michigan several months earlier.

   "We should show and say it because the President sent it out just that
   way," according to a memo sent to CNN's staff following the widely
   quoted tweet.

   The New York Times has always considered itself a publication fit for
   family reading, as well as the American newspaper of record.

   Obscenity-laced tirade

   When Trump's newly hired communications director, Anthony Scaramucci,
   went on an obscenity-laced tirade against the White House chief of
   staff, Reince Priebus, in a phone conversation with a New Yorker
   magazine reporter in July 2017, the newspaper's editors printed it all.

   "We concluded that it was newsworthy that a top Trump aide used such
   language," tweeted Clifford Levy, the Times associate managing editor.
   "And we didn't want our readers to have to search elsewhere to find out
   what Scaramucci said."

     NYT published Scaramucci's profanity after top editors, including
     Dean Baquet, discussed whether it was proper 1/3
     [2]https://t.co/lNnwqBRqD5 [3]pic.twitter.com/DPBWsEi2fQ
     -- Clifford Levy (@cliffordlevy) [4]July 27, 2017

   The outburst cost Scaramucci his job after fewer than 11 days in the
   post.

   In August, Democratic presidential candidate Beto O'Rourke used the
   F-word in accusing Trump of inciting racism and gun violence after a
   mass shooting in O'Rourke's hometown of El Paso, Texas. The former
   congressman brushed off criticism, tweeting: "Profanity is not the
   f-bomb. What is profane is a 17-month-old baby being shot in the face."

     Profanity is not the f-bomb. What is profane is a 17 month-old baby
     being shot in the face. [5]pic.twitter.com/mUuK12Rxbp
     -- Beto O'Rourke (@BetoORourke) [6]September 1, 2019

   The sensitivity about such language is an aspect of Anglo-American
   culture that associates "strong with bad," Bergen tells VOA. "And it
   could be that we're observing because of this democratization of media
   a shift in the direction where profane words are no longer viewed as
   bad much, but as merely strong."

   Past presidents

References

   1. https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump/status/1179422987684077568?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw
   2. https://t.co/lNnwqBRqD5
   3. https://t.co/DPBWsEi2fQ
   4. https://twitter.com/cliffordlevy/status/890714093702832129?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw
   5. https://t.co/mUuK12Rxbp
   6. https://twitter.com/BetoORourke/status/1168184214916870144?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw

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