Tory Shepherd: Trump’s Twitter obsession has rubbed off on Morrison
Where once politicians showing disdain for accuracy, truth, and evidence was reserved for fringe independents, it’s now the recipe for election success, writes Tory Shepherd. Just look at our PM.
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A pair of cunning linguists have proven what was already becoming obvious – that petty nastiness, inaccuracy and populism trumps reasoned political debate.
A new paper shows US President Donald Trump’s erratic tweeting is one of the reasons he’s in power. People are keen on the “de-professionalisation” of political rhetoric. They feel he’s one of them, not some distant “elite”, and he pumps that up by going hard on those he paints as “elite”.
The researchers suggest Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison is learning some of those tricks as well.
In a report published in the journal Language & Communication, Andrew Ross, of Sydney University, and David Caldwell, of UniSA, studied 3000 Trump tweets and analysed their content. The President’s attacks on his opponent at the 2016 election, Hillary Clinton, are at the heart of the findings. Dr Caldwell said Trump’s hashtag #CrookedHillaryClinton “seared into the American consciousness” as he accused her of a range of wrongdoings.
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“Previous research shows that the more negative his tweets are, the higher his poll ratings,” he said.
“Twitter was clearly highly influential for him in winning the 2016 US election. Trump successfully vilifies his opponent; judging her ethics and morality, her capacity to lead, her associates, and her precious accomplishments.”
Trump used Twitter as a loudspeaker for character assassination. For “going negative … with the ultimate aim to attack and undermine the character of his political opponent”.
The linguists looked at how he consistently referred to “fake media” (discrediting reports that discredited him) and used “negativity as a rhetorical political strategy”. A strategy that worked. As his negativity rose, so did his poll numbers.
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(Frighteningly, previous research has found his language use is indicative of the Dark Triad, or deep malevolence. The study points to research that Trump displays all three: Narcissism, Machiavellianism, and psychopathy.) Trump’s ramshackle approach, with utterly arbitrary capitalisation and poor spelling, contrasts sharply with “professional” social media posts. But it connects with people.
It’s “de-professionalised”. None of that grammar-perfect tosh the focus groups come up with. No highfalutin’ language. More the guy down the pub (even if it’s coming from a powerful, billionaire, ego-ridden television celebrity).
Dr Caldwell says there’s evidence Mr Morrison is picking up that de-professional, anti-elite style: Morrison’s infamous “daggy dad” persona, with baseball cap and scuffed shoes. Which is fine, and an easy contrast with his predecessor Malcolm Turnbull – “Mr Harbourside Mansion”.
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But there’s a not-so-fine side to this “one-of-the-people” schtick, and that’s the anti-elitism. One of Trump’s top phrases is about how he’s going to “drain the swamp”. He’s the outsider, railing against scientists, intelligence agencies, media and academics, from his gold-plated skyscraper or private golf course.
“ScoMo” has seized upon the garbled anti-elite message with gusto. Any question he doesn’t want to answer belongs in the “Canberra bubble”. Any pesky critics are ignored in favour of the ill-defined “Quiet Australians”.
He has also come to share Trump’s loose acquaintance with the truth, skipping merrily around valid questions such as those about whether or not he invited his mate Brian Houston to the White House.
MORE FROM TORY SHEPHERD: Donald Trump has set a terrifying precedent
The questions are from the bubble, they’re gossip, they’re not the sort of questions those lovely Quiet Australians would ask. They’re fake news.
The heartbreaking thing is this populist disdain for accuracy, truth, and evidence turns out to be … well, popular.
In related news this week, the Apostrophe Protection Society put up the white flag. For years, it railed against apple’s, orange’s and potatoe’s, and fought for the little punctuation mark’s proper usage. No more. The chairman gave up, saying “ignorance and laziness” had won.
People no longer care for expertise, for accuracy.
If it’s true people love these populists not just despite their anti-elitism, but because of it, and that they disdain precision, democracy is screwed.
And all the covfefe’s in the world won’t save it.
Tory Shepherd is a columnist for the Adelaide Advertiser.
Originally published as Tory Shepherd: Trump’s Twitter obsession has rubbed off on Morrison
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