Throughout the election process, Trump has continued to return to the idea of bringing back law and order to gain support…but… is this style actually gaining support? Minorities tend to think not. In today’s society, minorities are a large percentage of voters and could potentially swing the outcome. Trump is in need of these voters and hasn’t done a great job at obtaining them especially in the law and order area by “bring back respect to the police.”

For example, the “Central Park 5” who were black and Latino men wrongfully imprisoned for brutally attacking and raping a 28- year-old women in Central Park, are voicing their opinion about Trump’s rhetoric of law and order. Yusef Salaam, a member of the Central Park 5, tells the Washington Post that they were “being deprived of food, drink, or sleep for more than 24 hours.” In 1989, Donald Trump spent “$85,000 on a full-page ad in four newspapers across the city of New York, which read ‘Bring Back The Death Penalty. Bring Back Our Police,” and to this day he stands by his words. Salaam also writes, “Black people across America know that because of the color of our skin, we are guilty before proven innocent.” Since Trump stands by his claim, even though they were proven innocent, adds to the fact that Trump’s campaign is bias, racist, and shows that he is unable to admit he is wrong. His rhetoric of law and order is losing minority voters because of police brutality. Should violent punishment really be what America needs? Not to the minorities and they certainly won’t be voting for Trump.

http://www.rawstory.com/2016/10/trumps-law-and-order-rhetoric-just-got-annihilated-by-a-member-of-the-central-park-5/

Link to Trump Law and Order Video Below

https://www.facebook.com/uniladmag/videos/vb.146505212039213/2415145018508543/?type=2&theater

While this election is going to be known for the candidates being, and being called a lot of different things. One thing that has played a big part in this election is race. In terms of Trump, race has been brought up due to his use of his law and order rhetoric throughout his campaigns in rallies, debates, and interviews.

In a video I saw online, it depicted parallels between racism in American in the 1960s during civil rights and the racism in Trump’s 2016 rallies. While this video does not directly say Trump is racist, the video shows discrimination and racially offensive things from the 1960s and compares them to discriminatory and offensive things at Trump’s rallies. It does show and have Trump quotes, Trump’s speeches audio, and video from his different rallies. This video shows Trump’s supporters reacting to what Trump is saying about how he wants to bring law and order back to America in his campaign to make America Great Again. This video and many like it is all over social media like Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram showing the different things Trump is saying in his rallies.There is one clip of Trump speaking and his supporters kicking out protesters as he cheered them on.  The narration of video is mostly from what Trump has said at some of his rallies with  saying how back in the “good ole days” and making alludes to the past and saying things like this wouldn’t be allowed, wouldn’t be happening, and their are even references to violence.

I do see how with these parallels, it does show how Trump has said things along his campaign in terms of race, law and order, and ethically that can be seen as problematic. I will admit how the media portrays his rallies doesn’t help in this situation.  With the debate coming closer and closer I hope Trump changes how he talks to and about minorities with more inclusive and better language. I also hope that if Trump wanted more minority votes that would use a different strategy when it talks about law and order, race, and law enforcement. This video does even make parallels to how protesting and social unrest is nothing new and is still happening in 2016.

Back in 1989, five black teenage men were wrongfully accused and charged with raping a female jogger in Central Park, the conversation around the Central Park Five spread like wildfire and soon everyone was talking about the case. Donald Trump took it upon himself to buy out the front page of the New York Times with a headline that read “Bring Back The Death Penalty” because he believed that the men accused of raping the woman should be sentenced to death. Since then, the men have been proven innocent. Years later, Trump is running in the 2016 election as the self-proclaimed “Law and order candidate” and no– he still has not accepted the exoneration of these men. He often speaks to the violence and crime in cities and how they can be assuaged with greater police force. 

I think it can be agreed upon that Trump has not been the best at sticking with a stance on a particular issue. We have seen him evolve and waver on many topics such as the “ban all Muslims” stunt he pulled earlier in the campaign trail. However, his stances on our criminal justice system in the United Stated has remained unchanged. This is one of the few instances that we have seen actual consistency from Trump.

We even saw Trump send open support during the 90s to New York mayor Rudy Giuliani for implementing “stop and frisk” and other police crack down methods. He still talks about this today and how it allegedly lowered the crime rates in the city.

To think about Trump’s stance in a communicative way, this is about a narrative. Trump’s narrative on law and order didn’t begin when the campaign did or during any particular event. It seems very consistent throughout his adult life, and that is reassuring for a lot of people.

Presidential candidates tend to take a political stance or position in order to obtain more support from constituents than the opposition party. Law and order has been a topic that has been used by candidates to target minority populations. Presidential candidate, Donald Trump, has been forced into a balancing position regarding his stance on law and order. One of Trump’s largest endorsers is the police union. Therefore, when Trump has to address situations of violence, especially in regards to the recent shootings of African Americans, Trump has to be careful. If he pushes too far to one side, he risks stepping on toes of endorsers or voters. Unfortunately, one of Trump’s qualities is not delicacy. Trump tends to speak what is on his mind, and he has had a hard time obtaining the African American votes he needs, while supporting the police.

African American voters are looking for a candidate who will support them and the injustice they have dealt with. Trump cannot claim that he will support them fully if he is also supporting the police union. White, middle aged republican men want Trump to support the police department. African American voters that Trump needs, want Trump’s support of their endeavor for justice. Trump is stuck in the middle of two conflicting stances, and is being forced to carefully balance his position between the two sides. Therefore, Trumps speech in Milwaukee to an all white crowd where he claimed to restore law and order was a good effort on Trump’s part to keep his support from Republican voters. Unfortunately, those are not the votes Trump should be focusing on. Trump needs to use his language and rhetoric to take a stance that pleases both his endorsers and gains him votes from minority populations.

 

http://www.nytimes.com/2016/08/17/us/politics/donald-trump-rally-is-called-chance-to-show-support-for-police.html

https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/true-crime/wp/2016/09/16/fraternal-order-of-police-union-endorses-trump/

Trump was in the casino business; he knows a scam when he sees it…. Right? This week as the media continued to bash Donald Trump for his performance on the Access Hollywood tape and as women after women sprung from the woodwork, Trump decided to fight back. His new angle of attack took at jab at two of his most hated enemies.

“The election is absolutely being rigged by the dishonest and distorted media pushing Crooked Hillary – but also at many polling places – SAD”

Trump has yet to produce any evidence for his claims that this year’s election will be rigged, but that won’t stop him from tweeting out his own truths. Tweets keep rolling in as Trump does what he does best; attack. He continues to pull at the WikiLeaks string hoping for the whole thing to unravel and while doing so ties in his favorite new word.

“Crooked Hillary colluded w/FBI and DOJ and media is covering up to protect her. It’s a #RiggedSystem! Our country deserves better!”

https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump?ref_src=twsrc%5Egoogle%7Ctwcamp%5Eserp%7Ctwgr%5Eauthor

 

But what effect does Trump calling the election process rigged actually have?

It turns out that the perception of corruption as well as negative messages about political empowerment may limit voters’ desire to participate in the political process. Alongside discouraging some to go out to the polling booths, this rhetoric instills a sense of hopelessness and distrust in government that cannot be healthy. It goes against his wishes to respect the law and order of the land and the fundamental electorate practices that our country holds so highly. Those more susceptible to Trump’s influence might feel as though they simply cannot win without means of violence or revolution. This may be a tactic Trump is implementing to reduce voter turnout for those that may have swung towards Hilary Clinton as election day nears.

http://blogs.wsj.com/washwire/2016/10/18/trumps-claims-of-rigged-election-could-backfire-research-shows/

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Some republicans may remember last election cycle when Romney’s camp said not to trust the polls. We may see yet another disappointed base that has their misguided hopes up and this brings us to the final presidential debate this upcoming Wednesday night. Will trump continue to push the “rigged” rhetoric or will he appear tame and tempered? Either way America has its hopes up that the excitement continues.

Trump’s law and order platform has evolved from the start of his campaign. Originally the law and order speeches were aimed at law enforcement and laws, but now they include African Americans, race relations, and different social movements going on in the nation. In a NBS summer article, it brings up how Trump discusses law and order only in black communities but never has blacks in his audience receiving the speech.“Law and order must be restored,” Trump said in this mostly white suburb an hour north of Milwaukee. “It must be restored for the sake of all, but most especially for the sake of those living in the affected communities, of which there are many.” 

I originally thought this was a campaign strategy since he uses the media to highlight his rallies and speeches, but .Trump called blacks the “main victims” of the riots in Milwaukee. “It’s their jobs, it’s their homes, it’s their schools and communities that will suffer the most as a result,” Trump said. “There’s no compassion in tolerating lawless conduct for anyone.”

Trump, however, has not campaigned in communities of color this cycle and turned down an invitation to speak at the NAACP’s annual convention in July. In the latest NBC/WSJ/Marist poll, Trump polled at just 1% with African American voters, compared to 91% for Clinton.Still, Trump sought to overcome the daunting disparity by directly asking for their votes. “I’m asking for the vote of every African American citizen struggling in our country today who wants a different and much better future.

At this point in the campaign Trump was directly asking for black votes, but  he has now shifted to rhetoric that is attacking Hillary(calling her a bigot,  saying she’s using blacks for just votes) to discourage voters.  I would love for him to recognize how there is discrimination/ race issues,and how that affects the black community and the nation as whole other than financially. This would be an issue that a surrogate would have been great to speak about how they feel with the social unrest and try to be more emphatic and understanding as well endorse Trump and a plan for the unrest other than more law enforcement, and stop-n-frisk. With the end of the campaign coming near, if Trump could be seen in black communities with black leaders,  interacting with black people would potential be good media for him.

This past July in Dallas, a protest against recent police brutality in Louisiana and Minnesota became violent when 5 police officers were killed by a sniper shooter. It was confirmed that the shooter was acting alone and not a part of this initially peaceful protest. In response, Donald Trump posted a video to his Facebook page calling for national unity in order to “Make America Safe Again”.

Now, Trump actually handled the situation pretty strategically, because a campaign speech was scheduled for that day, but he cancelled it out of respect for the victims’ and their loved ones. In addition to the video, he also issued a sizable statement about the attacks which included this quote: “Our nation has become too divided. Too many Americans feel like they’ve lost hope. Crime is harming too many citizens. Racial tensions have gotten worse, not better. This isn’t the American Dream we all want for our children.”.

Rhetorically, as a candidate for change, it was a good move to bring up the American Dream and the notion of lost hope. The American Dream theme is to make a better life for yourself and the next generation, and I think it’s a point of common understanding for a lot of Americans.

Perhaps ironically, the point of the protest in which these people were injured and killed was to express disdain for the shootings of the black men in Louisiana and Minnesota. The demonstrators were actively trying to make a better life for themselves and the next generation by protesting and demanding justice. The demonstrators were clinging on to their hope and fighting for their equal rights in regards to law enforcement.

Even though Trump was most likely speaking to conservatives who were deeply saddened at the loss of our law enforcement officials about law and order, racial tensions, and safety, a lot of people that are also seriously concerned with their future and their “American Dream” are the people who are suffering from the racial injustices that plague our society today.