An Examination of How Donald Trump's Charismatic Leadership and Charismatic Rhetoric Uses Twitter to Bond with his Followers

Abstract

Trump's tumultuous presidency has been described as far-right through the use of discriminatory and nationalist talking points to prey upon the fears of conservative citizens in the US. He has also been described as charismatic, but research has not focused upon how he used Twitter to convey his charismatic leadership and rhetoric to the public. This thesis seeks to examine how Donald Trump's use of charismatic leadership and charismatic rhetoric influence his use of Twitter and how he interacts with his followers. I analyze Trump's tweets between May 25th, 2020, until January 8th, 2021, as two significant events (the Black Lives Matter protests and the 2020 US presidential election) occurred during this time that help shape his presidency. I found that through examining Trump's tweets, it is shown that he promotes a far-right brand of loyalty that supports the suppression of anybody that opposes him.