Sydney Greiner

Professor Shealy

ENC 2135

26 March 2023

The Rhetoric Utilized in Anti-Trump Media

Before the 2020 presidential election, a multitude of information was being spread about

the candidates. Many media outlets worked to catch the attention of consumers and convince

them of their beliefs, such as who should win this election. A similar phenomenon is occurring

right now, as the Republican party is gearing up to try and take back the presidency in 2024 and

searching for a candidate. One strategy that has been utilized by the media is publishing articles

filled with reasoning and facts about Trump’s presidency. Another popular strategy is creating

political cartoons. One artist, a 2020 Pulitzer Prize finalist Lalo Alcaraz, utilized a comedic tone,

pathos, and ethos to point out the serious flaws of the president through an untitled cartoon.

Alternatively, Matt Loffman used a serious tone, logos, and ethos to more successfully persuade

his audience that the president is not fit to run in the next election in an article titled, “Trump

should not run for president in 2024, majority of Americans say.”

The intended audience for each piece is American voters, as they are trying to persuade

them that Trump is unfit to run in an election and to be president again. However, since the

medium of both pieces is digital, they may reach an unintended audience, such as those who

cannot vote and international media viewers. This could create more discourse among the

unintended groups, but reaching voters, in this case, is more important. While each of these

artifacts are successful in their use of rhetoric, there are some constraints that cannot be

controlled. For example, Loffman’s article was published online by PBS, but some people may
not pay attention to PBS news and may rely on specific sources that cater to their own views.

This would mean that the article does not reach as wide of an audience. Similarly, Alcaraz’s

cartoon was published online, but there are many people who do not pay attention to cartoons as

they can be seen as unprofessional or childish.

Alcaraz uses exaggeration in his visual-based approach to point out the flaws he sees in

Donald Trump. The author makes appeals to the audience’s pathos in the cartoon as it appeals to

humor. It is intended to make the audience laugh and see Trump as a joke rather than

professional or presidential. In this cartoon, Alcaraz references the New York Times article that

came out in 2020. This article “blew the top off” of his tax records, outing him and his financial

history as fraudulent. This is a play on the fact that many have poked fun at the president’s hair,

as the cartoon shows a hair dryer blowing his comb-over right off the top of his head and

revealing the phrase “tax fraud.” These devices are meant to foster doubt and suspicion in

relation to the president’s credibility prior to the next election (Guadalupe, 2020).

By utilizing the New York Times article within the cartoon, Alcaraz appeals to logos.

This citation shows that the author is knowledgeable and informed about the issue at hand. It is

clear that Alcaraz has kept up with the news surrounding the former president’s actions and can
deliver the information in a digestible way. In addition, Alcaraz has been a finalist for two

Pulitzer Prizes, showing that he is well-respected by other journalists, further showing his

trustworthiness and appealing to ethos (“Finalist: Lalo Alcaraz”). The trust that is created in the

author helps portray the message more successfully; the audience is more likely to trust or

believe a respected and knowledgeable author.

However, Loffman has a more persuasive argument, as a text-based article format is

more informative and logical than a cartoon. It also carries a serious tone due to the factual

nature of the piece. These facts and serious tone also follow solid logic. By stating and analyzing

certain statistics, Loffman creates logos within the article. For example, Loffman cites a study

that found that “Sixty-five percent of Americans would oppose another run for the White House”

(Loffman, 2022). This shows that his arguments are based on facts and are trustworthy. He even

goes on to show that Trump is seen by some as a possible criminal, as “Forty-four percent

believe Trump has done something illegal, including 42 percent of people who believe he’s done

something illegal and should be charged with a crime” (Loffman, 2022). This fosters even more

distrust for the former president.

By relying on such facts and logic, the author also appeals to ethos. The information from

the article shows a breadth of knowledge that will create trust from the audience. Loffman has

also written many articles for PBS, and his full works with the publisher can be easily found on

the same website. His title, “PBS NewsHour's Deputy Senior Politics Producer,” is also

displayed, showing that his writing has earned a respectable title (“Matt Loffman”). This

information is available to anyone who views the original article and shows how respectable and

trustworthy this author is, furthering his persuasion.

 Overall, both artifacts fulfill their purpose of persuading voters that Trump is unfit for the

next presidency. Alcaraz’s cartoon better appeals to those who already see Trump as

untrustworthy or unserious, while Loffman’s article provides a more convincing argument to

those who may be on the fence about this issue. Because of this, Loffman’s article may appeal to

a wider base and a more critical audience who would need more convincing to vote against the

former president if he was to run for office again. His logical, fact-based structure and use of

statistics about American citizens work to show that even those who supported Trump in

previous elections have changed their minds, and even more can now.
 Works Cited

“Finalist: Lalo Alcaraz, Freelancer.” The Pulitzer Prizes, https://www.pulitzer.org/finalists/lalo-

alcaraz-freelancer.

Guadalupe, Patricia. “Latino Cartoonist Lalo Alcaraz Is on a Mission to Defeat Trump in

November.” NBCNews.com, NBCUniversal News Group, 5 Oct. 2020,

https://www.nbcnews.com/news/latino/latino-cartoonist-lalo-alcaraz-mission-defeat-

trump-november-n1241878.

Loffman, Matt. “Trump Should Not Run for President in 2024, Majority of Americans Say.”

PBS, Public Broadcasting Service, 7 Sept. 2022,

https://www.pbs.org/newshour/politics/trump-should-not-run-for-president-in-2024-

majority-of-americans-say.

“Matt Loffman | Author | PBS NewsHour.” PBS, Public Broadcasting Service,

https://www.pbs.org/newshour/author/matt-loffman.