Why Is Donald Trump Trending? Charm, Charisma, And Churlishness
Donald trump continues to make headlines, and trend strongly in Internet searches. As this unlikely candidate bids for the presidency of the United States, it seems people love to hate this politician who makes no apologies about his anti-immigration stance, as well as his personal attacks toward the media or anyone else who would criticize him.
Despite Trump’s many negative moments in the press, his poll numbers speak for themselves.
“@ben_techpro: Donald Trump opens up ‘massive’ lead in national poll https://t.co/yBfezuPX9a #makeamericagreatagain #wakeupamerica @GOP”
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) December 5, 2015
Such performance appeals to an American right-wing disenfranchised by the dominance of liberal politics and the failure of the GOP to counter the general shift to the left that America has made over the last seven years, particularly concerning Obamacare, which Trump claimed was “overseen by a Surgeon General who is obese, and financed by a country that is broke!!!!”
It is this “plain-talking” that appeals to supporters of the Republican Party, which are against all Obama policies, especially those helping migrants, gays, and poor people. Trump is also known for making outrageous comments, most recently implying that families of terrorists should be targeted, as well as the terrorists themselves.
Donald Trump: I would “go after the wives” of terrorists https://t.co/4QqwGB1SIw pic.twitter.com/KOK9aXOBcZ
— CBS News (@CBSNews) December 6, 2015
Charm
Donald Trump appeals to voters due to his charm. This charm comes across in self-affirmation tropes such as avoiding an apology.
“I fully think apologizing is a great thing,” the famously self-assured Trump replied before winning the studio audience’s applause by adding: “But you have to be WRONG. … I will absolutely apologize sometime in the hopefully distant future if I’m ever wrong.”
On this episode of The Tonight Show, Trump appears to resonate with the audience and it is this public appeal that has him rising in the polls despite the negative press he receives for his shocking political beliefs and tactless behavior, such as when Trump mocked a disabled news reporter.
Charisma
Donald Trump is the subject of academic papers asking what makes a good business leader.
“Some of those are values, skills and cognitive abilities. Mr. Trump exhibits all of these traits. If this is what has made him as successful as he is, why are certain leaders not able to achieve his type of success?”
The conclusion of this study is that charisma is Trump’s proverbial and literal “trump card,” which he employs in his approach to the world as someone speaking his mind genuinely.
Can you imagine Donald Trump doing this? pic.twitter.com/LE8vatY5uS
— aaron blitzstein (@BlitznBeans) December 6, 2015
Churlishness
How could churlishness be a positive trait? In the case of Donald Trump, it seems to be that no matter how churlish he is, his popularity wavers little.
For example, here are the top three churlish quotes by Trump. For all 25 quotes, head over to Inside Gov.
- “You know, it really doesn’t matter what the media write as long as you’ve got a young and beautiful piece of ass.”
- “The concept of global warming was created by and for the Chinese in order to make U.S. manufacturing non-competitive.”
- “When was the last time anybody saw us beating, let’s say, China in a trade deal? They kill us. I beat China all the time. All the time.”
[Image by DonkeyHotey CC BY-SA 2.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0), via Wikimedia Commons]
