Good afternoon, my name is Ashley Mcfarlane, today I will be analyzing Jennifer Rubin’s article in the Washington Post called “How Trump Lost the Border Wall Fight.” This piece highlights commitments and statements the President has made. The author expresses that those statements are lies and the President has yet to fulfill those promises.
In today’s podcast, I will be discussing Rubin’s main point. I will also address the tone and diction she uses and whether it allows her to successfully get her message across to her audience. Rubin uses inflammatory language and is very explicit on how she feels about the President. Several times, Rubin addresses Trump as a liar and a con man. She writes, “… con man running for president with a white resentment and grievance pitch (Rubin).” Rubin continues and writes about how the President said illegal immigrants are flooding the U.S., taking American jobs, and they are responsible for the massive crime wave. She shares with the readers that those pitches are fabricated. She once again uses the term “con”. “It was a con…to win and hold onto his low-information voters, the ones convinced that their and the country’s ills were caused by immigrants (Rubin).” The author uses an informs readers as she provides statistics to prove that those previous comments Trump made were false. Rubin includes hyperlinks in her article containing information that the rate of illegal immigrants was low while Obama was President and crime was at a historic low. This information discredits Trump and supports Rubin’s argument.
At this point in the article Rubin begins to discuss the boarder wall topic. She uses real examples as she updates readers that, in the 2016 election Trump said he would have Mexico pay for the border wall. When he seen that idea was impossible, his next move was to ask congress for the funding. They disagreed and Trump proceeded to shut down the government in hopes that would give him the funding for the wall. Neither of those attempts worked and there still is no wall. Rubin points out, “What’s important to understand is that Trump has failed entirely and irreversibly on his signature issue. The border-wall catastrophe is, in many ways, the inevitable result of a campaign and presidency built on demagoguery and dishonesty (Rubin).
For the overall conclusion, Rubin has achieved the purpose of the article. She was able to inform others of the unfulfilled promises that the President has made and shed light on lies he has told. Rubin provides sources that made her claims credible. Unfortunately, I do not believe she will be successful in reaching her targeted audience. Rubin uses persuasive language and wanting republicans to stop voting for Trump. She expresses, “One wonders when Trump’s voters will finally abandon him (Rubin). Many republicans who begin to read this article will be upset and inflamed because of Rubin’s tone and attitude when she’s speaking about Donald Trump.