Giotto 1

Gabby Giotto
Ben Henderson
CAS 137H
13 October 2015
Word Count: 1591
Trump vs. the Willard Preacher: How Similar Are They?
Rhetoric and politicians are two words that are often paired together, but more
and more often has rhetoric been used with a negative connotation. Donald Trump may
not be the most skilled rhetorician, but he has been at the forefront of social media and
mainstream news programs since the debut of his former show The Apprentice. The
billionaire entrepreneur announced his campaign for the 2016 presidential race on June
16, 2015, and since has created commotion in media circles and among the citizens of the
United States. Trump led in the Republican polls for multiple weeks, beating strong
opponents like neurosurgeon Ben Carson, and former governor of Florida, Jeb Bush. On
October 2, 2015, however, Trump fell to second place behind Carson. The public may
have realized that Trump merely entertains because he bases arguments on nonobjective,
outlandish claims and insults over well-researched facts, and therefore they doubt his
ability to deliver real action.
Like Trump, Gary Cattell, otherwise known as the Willard Preacher, utilizes
insults to gain the attention of the Penn State student body. He strives to change the
students behavior from inappropriate to appropriate in the eyes of a Christian. By

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abstaining from sexual intercourse, alcohol, and homosexuality, the Willard Preacher
argues that students will be able to save themselves from eternal damnation.
Donald Trumps use of rhetoric in a campaign speech in South Carolina proves
ultimately ineffective in gaining the support of the American people because of his lack
of respect for them as individuals. Similarly, Penn States Willard Preacher faces the
same perceived lack of effectiveness because he fails to respect campus students. Donald
Trump and the Willard Preacher use rhetoric ineffectively because of existing issues with
ideology, audience, and kairotic timing.
The ideologies of Americans can often be located in the Constitution, also known
as the rulebook for the citizens of the United States. The Constitution helps the American
people define civic citizen as one who strives for the advancement of society, one who
voices their opinions and respects those of his peers, and one who knows how and when
to compromise if needed. United States citizens have held that ideology in favor since the
countrys origin. While Donald Trump is not as far from upholding this ideology as many
may think, he does neglect its key factors. Because Trump is seeking the presidency, he
obviously hopes to improve America. He plans to improve the country in his own way by
decreasing immigration, improving the economy, and finding a solution for the debate
over abortion. Whether one agrees with his ideas or not, what Trump does not follow
within the ideology is simply respecting his audience as human beings, let alone
respecting their opinions.
In a speech he recently delivered in South Carolina, Trump repeatedly insults his
opponents rather than highlighting his disagreement with their views with substantiated

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arguments or evidence. For example, Trump mentions Lindsey Graham, the Senator of
South Carolina and 2016 presidential candidate, multiple times by calling him a stiff
and not a very bright guy (Kurtzleben). Trumps references are not based on verifiable
facts or solid information but are instead only centered on his biased and self-promoting
opinions. A true civic citizen would treat everyone with respect even if he did not agree
with their positions or even if he just disliked them. This begins to affect Trumps
rhetorics effectiveness because as the audience listens to his speeches, they realize that
he fails to state his actual policy positions, but simply and repeatedly insults and
disrespects others. Those shortcomings further cause the audience to think of Trump as an
inexperienced and untrustworthy candidate.
In comparison, at first glance, the Willard Preacher also fits in with the ideology
of a civic citizen. While he is not running for public office, the ideology remains strong
because he is an American citizen practicing his freedom of speech. Like Trump, the
Willard Preacher strives to improve his society; he is outside every single weekday
preaching to the students about achieving acceptance from God and living a life without
the taints of sin, which proves his passion and motivation. Notwithstanding his platform,
the Willard Preacher does not fit into the civic citizen ideology when it comes to
respecting the students themselves. To the same degree as Trump, he often can be heard
insulting his audience using pejoratives like faggots or perverse or simply stupid.
When a student attempts to confront him, the Willard Preacher does not listen to the
students points and then proceeds to speak over the student, which is a clear example of
his absence of respect. The Willard Preachers rhetoric suffers because the students hear

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his insults and take them and his speech as comedy; they do not take him seriously, which
is the opposite of what he wants. Because both the Willard Preacher and Donald Trump
lack the most significant requirements to be a successful civic citizen, their audiences
cannot receive their rhetoric, as Trump and the Willard Preacher would hope. Also, quite
obviously, citizens follow leaders who are kind to them. These two leaders lack that
very simple aspect, which is a large contributor to their ineffectiveness.
Along with their inability to embody Americas ideology of being a civic citizen,
Trump and the Willard Preacher do not know how to efficaciously approach their
audiences. Between these two public figures, the audiences, admittedly, vary widely. The
Willard Preacher touches only the student body of Penn State and then, only those who
frequent the Willard building for classes or who happen to pass by. Some students see
him every day and some have never even heard of him. Because the Willard Preacher
only reaches college students of average age eighteen to twenty-one, he does not have the
most reliable or worldly-wise audience. His rhetoric is ineffective in gaining his
audiences support because his verbal abuses are so absurd that the students shake them
off as comedic jokes. It is proven that the students do not take the Willard Preacher
seriously because of the lack of change in the behavior of the students.
In contrast, Trumps platform provides him access to the entire country because
he is running for the most important seat of public office: the presidency. While some
may disagree with that statement, they cannot disagree that the presidential races are
highly publicized, and today, the media is everywhere. Trumps audience begins with 18year-olds and ends with the oldest citizen of the United States who will be voting in the

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2016 election. There appears to be a population of people who consider Trump simply a
source of comedic relief, like the Willard Preacher, and there are others who seem to take
his candidate status seriously. Trumps audience holds more power because he is able to
address the entire nation of individuals who will potentially vote for him to be the next
president. Trump fails to gain the citizens support because his insulting arguments are
insufficient evidence to support, however, excessive insults and unsubstantiated selfpromotion fail to position himself as someone his own fellow Americans consider a
serious candidate, therefore, his rhetoric is failing.
Because the election is within the next few months, Trumps flawed candidacy
needs to be shut down. The American people need to realize that a man who cannot
respect his own peers as individuals definitely will not be able to respect an entire
country and garner enough respect himself to lead it. American citizens initially showed
surprisingly strong support for Trumps candidacy with him showing as the leader in the
polls for multiple weeks. Just recently, however, on October 2, the entrepreneur was
beaten by neurosurgeon Ben Carson, by 7%. This appears to shows that the humor is
fading and that his lack of respect for the American people and his opponents is
translating into a drop in the polls. Trumps failure to maintain his lead and to win over
more audiences proves the flaws in his rhetoric and inability to succeed through verbal
bashing.
While his evidence is admittedly much smaller, the Willard Preacher needs to be
discussed at this moment because he still could bear adverse effects on our nation. The
American people have recently made a great deal of progress toward accepting people for

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who they are and not insulting them simply because they behave differently, for example,
the recent legalization of same-sex marriage in June of 2015. The Willard Preacher does
not show respect for the individual students; therefore, they do not have respect for him.
He stands for hours upon hours only to voice his strong opinions without regards to the
consequences that come after insulting ones audience.
In conclusion, Donald Trump and Penn States Willard Preacher are worthy of
comparison because they both fail in their efforts to be civic citizens by disrespecting the
viewpoints of their peers and fellow citizens. While their audiences differ because the
Willard Preacher only reaches Penn State students and Trump reaches the entire country,
both majorities of audiences find their rhetoric as comedic relief instead of serious policy.
The American people need to realize that our leaders and/or advisors should not be able
to treat them without respect and still expect their support. In order to gain the respect of
the American people and the Penn State student body, Donald Trump and the Willard
Preacher need to change their approach to rhetoric to show that first and foremost they
respect their audiences as human beings and value their opinions enough to counter those
opinions with well substantiated arguments.

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Works Cited
Kurtzleben, Danielle. "The Best Insults Of Donald Trump's Latest Campaign Speech."
NPR. NPR, 21 July 2015. Web. 05 Oct. 2015.
Merline, John. "Donald Trump Falls: Ben Carson Surges To Lead In Poll." Investor's
Business Daily. Investor's Business Daily, 02 Oct. 2015. Web. 05 Oct. 2015.