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7 - 45 as a Bullshit Artist: Straining for Charisma

from Part II - Performance and Falsehood

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  18 September 2020

By
Marco Jacquemet
Edited by
Janet McIntosh  and
Norma Mendoza-Denton
Janet McIntosh
Affiliation:
Brandeis University, Massachusetts
Norma Mendoza-Denton
Affiliation:
University of California, Los Angeles
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Summary

This chapter uses a famous article on the communicative features of “bullshitting” (Frankfurt 2005) to shed fresh light on select statements by Donald Trump. Frankfurt’s central observation was that in bullshitting, unlike lying, the speaker isn’t deliberately aiming to deceive and cover up the truth; rather, he can’t be bothered to care about the truth conditions of a statement. While Trump has undoubtedly told countless willful lies, some of his utterances suggest instead a predominance of bullshit. This chapter investigates Trump’s bullshit from a communicative perspective, focusing on Trump’s stance in using bullshit (in particular his desire to produce a positive self-impression) and his use of Twitter as a medium that particularly encourages bullshit in its short character bursts. Bullshitting becomes another tool in Trump’s strategy of branded entertainment, used for self-aggrandizing and to boost his impression management, to create the Trump’ spectacle, and to test others’ loyalty.

Keywords

liesbullshittruthtruth conditionsimpression managementstancecharismaspectaclebrandTwitter
Type
Chapter
Information
Language in the Trump Era
Scandals and Emergencies
 , pp. 124 - 136
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 2020

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