We are down to nearly two weeks until the general election and Donald Trump is at his wits’ ends trying to grab votes before Hillary becomes our next President. By looking at Trump’s first advertisement of the general election, voters can see how his immigration rhetoric made inferences to Clinton, and created subcultural myths, which may take votes away from him.
Courtesy of NY Times
Trump v. Clinton
Without a doubt, illegal immigration has surrounded Trump’s campaign, so using this issue within his first ad was a strategic move. It plays right into Trump’s “vision for America” as it overlooks his entire immigration plan of deporting illegal aliens, securing the border, and keeping the country safe. Trump also hits Clinton right away in this ad by making inferences about her positions on illegal immigration. His advertisement team included clips of criminals and open borders while speaking of “Clinton’s America,” suggesting that he is the hero and she is the villain. Voters can fill in this gap from watching the ad, and in turn, may pay more attention to Trump if they are concerned about illegal immigration and security.
Myths in the making
Trump, however, also incorporates subcultural myths tied to race and culture in this advertisement. He shows a clip of a border patrol agent arresting/deporting an illegal immigrant as the words “Terrorists Kept Out” flash across the screen. This rhetoric could be seen as offensive to illegal immigrants and others who believe Trump is generalizing that all illegal aliens are terrorists. Trump also includes clips of immigrants at the Mexican border, suggesting that these people pose a threat to our security. While criminals do indeed cross our borders, not all illegal immigrants fall into that category; many of them come to find a better life. Trump should have been more careful about generalizing and creating this subcultural myth.
Audience and rhetoric
Overall, Trump’s ad catered primarily to his alt-right supporters — those who stand firmly with him on building a wall and deporting illegal aliens. His immigration rhetoric in this ad doesn’t veer from his original attacks of illegal immigrants “bringing drugs, bringing crime.” He doubled down on this rhetoric and included images and clips to make it come to life. The ad embraces Trump’s harsh immigration rhetoric to create subcultural myths and implications of Hillary’s Clinton plan for immigration.
I definitely agree with you that Trump has done his best to make ads that cater to the conservative right wing primarily, which initially benefited him but now I believe is working against him. This tactic, to make Clinton appear as a villainous character who was opting towards letting tons of immigrants in, while unappealing to his target audience- also worked against him because it shed positive light on Clinton’s campaign to her target audience too. Clinton WANTED immigrants, legal families of illegal immigrants and minorities to think she has plans to help them by letting more immigrants in, she wants to appear as inclusive and accepting as possible! So, while Trump did his best to make her appear badly in front of his audience- he also made her appear great to hear audience in the same light!