On October 26, 2016, Donald Trump delivered a speech in Charlotte, North Carolina. Trump wisely chose to speak in Charlotte, North Carolina, where he and Clinton are in a tight race to win the state. After the shootings that recently occurred in Charlotte, Trump tailored his speech to fit an African American audience. Trump declared his “New Deal for Black America” where making communities safe would be his first priority. Trump proclaimed his desire to include African Americans in the “American Dream.” Without looking at the context of Trump’s speech, his message is powerful and would appear to attract many African American voters. Trump gives specific moves he will make in office and how he will work with the police to solve the crime rates in Chicago and Charlotte; however, the audience Trump delivers his speech to is not the audience he should be targeting.
Interestingly, the crowd of supporters Trump delivered his speech to was mainly white middle-aged men. The message of Trump’s speech was powerful and motivating, but he failed to deliver it to the audience he was targeting. Early in the primaries, Trump’s success came from delivering his message to an audience who would respond to it. Trump has failed to deliver messages to gain African American voters to an audience with African Americans present. Unfortunately, this is not Trump’s first time speaking to a white audience in an attempt to gain African American voters. In Des Moines, Iowa, Trump asked African American’s to vote for him, but the audience was filled with white men. Persuasive campaign rhetoric has a coherent speaker, message, and audience. In order to gain the African American votes he needs, Trump needs to deliver compelling messages to an audience with African Americans actually present to hear his speech.
http://www.politico.com/story/2016/08/donald-trump-iowa-race-227474
I personally did not watch this speech but it was very interesting that you pointed out who the audience was. Yes his message was powerful and obvious that he is trying to obtain black voters but will he really receive these votes if they never even heard the message? I think Trump could have done a better job at making sure African Americans did in fact hear this message. It also seems to me that this speech was just a check in the box. That okay he did the best he could to reach out to African Americans but is it sincere and will he actually do what he says he will do? Should be very interesting if he is elected president and follows out with his plans.
I agree that it was a good speech, as the incumbent, Trump was right to speak about change, the future, and the American dream. However, the audience was not correct, many of them were already voting for him!