“I know words. I have the best words.” Donald Trump once said. The former President has proven that he can confidently give a speech, while not knowing some words and making up a lot more, perhaps to give the impression that he knows more words than he actually does.
It is fair to argue that Trump is not the most eloquent of speakers. It might have been easy to forget that after the June debate debacle, where Trump looked like the king of spelling bees next to President Joe Biden, who has since dropped out of the race. His performance that night fomented growing doubts among the Democratic Party, whereas Trump got out unaffected by comparison.
Trump is a talented enforcer of populist rhetoric based on us vs. them, fear-mongering, exaggerated facts, and overall, a lot of nonsense, which has nevertheless had success in building the large MAGA following he has backing him up. With the presidential debate, we witnessed first-hand how a self-assured falsehood can be more discreet and pass undetected more easily than a hesitant, stuttered truth.
But over the last decade, Donald Trump has bestowed us with a generous collection of hilariously mispronounced words. Proving that, through a particular point of view, he may indeed have “the best words.” These are just not the same words most of us use when speaking in English.
It’s a hard-knock life for a word in Trump’s mouth
Over the many years it’s been airing, The Daily Show has made politics more digestible by eliciting laughs out of situations that otherwise may compel us to lie down and cry. They have also done us the valiant service of compiling every instance of Donald Trump mercilessly butchering word after word.
“And he had the nerve to mock Joe’s occasional stutter?” questioned one netizen. While Biden, especially in recent months, has some unfortunate gaffes in his record, if Trump or anyone wishes to throw stones they ought to be mindful of their own glass houses.
In times of political unrest and anxiety, we can still find sources of comedic relief. With every metaphorical kick to the English language, Trump at least gifts us plenty of material to laugh about, and laughter is much needed, as it can be harder to find reasons these days.