When comparing the differences between Obama and Trump speeches, one notices that President Trump offers something entirely new and different to what his predecessor offered. Compared to HOPE and CHANGE, President Trump promised to Make America Great again. There is a pronounced difference between the two presidents. Although it is common for presidents who succeed their predecessors to be almost a mirror image of them, in this case, President Trump is entirely different.
Differences on important issues
There are also differences between the two presidents when it comes to important issues. For example, on Russia the former president was quick to say that Russia was not capable of matching America’s influence around the world. President Trump on the other hand says that if the President of Russia likes him then that would be an asset and not a liability.
Different opinions on change and job creation
When it concerned his promise of change, Obama said that the people were the change and he went on to say that he answered people’s hopes and he made American stronger and a better place. President Trump on the other hand says that he would produce more jobs than ever before and that he would work very hard to ensure that more jobs were created in America than ever before.
Democracy and dissent
While discussing democracy and dissent, the former president said that it was common to quarrel and argue and then reach a compromise. The founding fathers of America expected their successors to do the same and so he promised everyone would be together. President Trump on the other hand said that his competition with Lindsey Graham was too one sided and that the Senator had no chance against him.
While discussing institutions, the former president said that democracy would be threatened when taken for granted. He urged everyone to throw themselves into the task of rebuilding the democratic institutions of America. President Trump however dismissed this as fake news.
Stark differences
The differences between the two presidents is really stark. However, when we ignore the way the two presidents spoke and if we look closely at the words used by President Trump, we see a few things that the two shares in common. The first thing that is common to both presidents is their rhetoric is filled with first-person pronouns. While the former president used about 69 percent self-referential terms, President Trump used more than 20 percent more such words. President Trump uses about fifty percent more first-person pronouns than the person who up till now had used the most: Gerald Ford who used about fifty percent fewer.
Use of similar words
Second, both presidents are almost equally tenacious and they both used words like must and need when calling for action. However, when trying to translate President Trump’s speeches, translators are hard pressed to do a good job because they fear they may end up sounding very stupid. This may be because President Trump uses a very unique style and it is hard for some translators to find the right word for what they describe as Trumpspeak.
