{"id":64016,"date":"2017-01-21T05:09:39","date_gmt":"2017-01-21T05:09:39","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/usa.timesofnews.com\/confrontational-angry-inaugural-address-leaves-no-doubt-about-which-side-trumps-on.html"},"modified":"2017-01-21T05:09:39","modified_gmt":"2017-01-21T05:09:39","slug":"confrontational-angry-inaugural-address-leaves-no-doubt-about-which-side-trumps-on","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/usa.timesofnews.com\/breaking-news\/political\/confrontational-angry-inaugural-address-leaves-no-doubt-about-which-side-trumps-on.html","title":{"rendered":"&#8216;Confrontational, angry&#8217; inaugural address leaves no doubt about which side Trump&#8217;s on"},"content":{"rendered":"<p \/>\n<p>It was classic\u00a0Donald Trump \u2014\u00a0a\u00a0hard-hitting campaign-style inauguration speech by the new\u00a0president of the United States that\u00a0used\u00a0&#8220;America\u00a0first&#8221; populist\u00a0rhetoric,\u00a0attacked\u00a0Washington insiders and decried the state of the country.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;He\u00a0is\u00a0a president like no\u00a0other, and <a href=\"http:\/\/www.cbc.ca\/news\/world\/trump-inauguration-speech-1.3944939\">his inaugural address<\/a> is without\u00a0parallel\u00a0in recent memory,&#8221; said Michael Cornfield, associate professor of political management at George Washington University in D.C.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;It was\u00a0confrontational,\u00a0angry, populist, plain-spoken, and there were moments of\u00a0inspiration\u00a0for\u00a0those\u00a0who feel put-upon by Washington.&#8221;<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"pullquote\"><p>\n <span class=\"pullquote-quotation\">&#8216;\u00a0I don&#8217;t think he did much to reach out to those who opposed him or didn&#8217;t vote for him.&#8217;<\/span><br \/>\n <cite class=\"pullquote-source\">&#8211; Eric <span class=\"scayt-misspell-word\">Foner<\/span>, historian, Columbia University<\/cite>\n<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p>The president, who uncharacteristically stuck to the teleprompter during the 16-minute address,\u00a0aimed his remarks\u00a0directly at his millions of supporters. He\u00a0had little to say to his\u00a0opponents, who continue to question his legitimacy, point to the fact he lost the popular\u00a0vote and plan to continue to protest his presidency over the coming days.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;Fair enough, [his supporters] got him elected, but I don&#8217;t think he did much to reach out to those who opposed him or didn&#8217;t vote for him,&#8221; said Columbia University history professor Eric Foner.<\/p>\n<p class=\"figure-caption\"><strong class=\"spaced\">Missed the inauguration? Watch the whole thing in just 2 minutes<\/strong>2:08<\/p>\n<p>In 2000, for example, George W. Bush,\u00a0who\u00a0like Trump\u00a0had lost\u00a0the popular vote but\u00a0whose victory hinged on the U.S. Supreme Court, had a special obligation to try to unite the country,\u00a0said Hans Noel, an associate professor of political science\u00a0at Georgetown University in Washington.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;His address had repeated references to unity and a shared American community. Some critics thought it rang hollow, but it was a deliberate attempt. Trump did not make that attempt.&#8221;<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>WATCH | <a href=\"http:\/\/www.cbc.ca\/1.3945806\">The inauguration in 2 minutes<\/a><\/strong><\/li>\n<li><strong>RECAP |\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/newsinteractives.cbc.ca\/live-blog\/trump-inauguration\">Trump&#8217;s inauguration: review our live blog of the day&#8217;s events<\/a><\/strong><\/li>\n<li><strong><a href=\"http:\/\/www.cbc.ca\/news\/entertainment\/memorable-inauguration-performances-1.3936892\">Five most-memorable presidential inauguration performances<\/a>\u00a0<\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p \/>\n<p \/>\n<p \/>\n<p>Despite a bitter and divisive campaign, Trump made\u00a0no acknowledgement\u00a0of his political rival, Democratic presidential nominee\u00a0Hillary Clinton, who attended, all smiles, with her husband, former president Bill Clinton. And he made only brief mention of Barack Obama,\u00a0but only to thank the now-former president and first lady for their help through the transition.<\/p>\n<h2>Vintage Trump<\/h2>\n<p>Instead, the address was vintage Trump,\u00a0rehashing\u00a0some\u00a0of the same-old fiery campaign slogans and themes he used on the trail:\u00a0make\u00a0America great again, put America first,\u00a0bring\u00a0back jobs and secure\u00a0the borders.<\/p>\n<p>Trump was more defiant and\u00a0divisive, delivering a\u00a0speech that was less\u00a0aspirational, less focused\u00a0on\u00a0what\u00a0Americans can\u00a0do together,\u00a0said Eric\u00a0Schnure, a former\u00a0speechwriter\u00a0for Al Gore, who served as vice-president under Bill Clinton.\u00a0<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"pullquote\"><p>\n <span class=\"pullquote-quotation\">&#8216;You want to hear\u00a0someone\u00a0speak about the values that define the American\u00a0ideal, and you\u00a0want them to do that in an optimistic fashion. And this was not that.&#8217;<\/span><br \/>\n <cite class=\"pullquote-source\">&#8211; Eric\u00a0<span class=\"scayt-misspell-word\">Schnure<\/span>,\u00a0former\u00a0<span class=\"scayt-misspell-word\">speechwriter<\/span>\u00a0for Al Gore<\/cite>\n<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p>&#8220;You tune\u00a0into an inaugural address, and you want to hear\u00a0someone\u00a0speak about the values that define the American\u00a0ideal, and you\u00a0want them to do that in an optimistic fashion,&#8221; Schnure said. &#8220;And this was not that.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>Trump ripped into the\u00a0D.C. establishment, accusing them of reaping the rewards of government &#8220;while the people have borne the cost.&#8221; The politicians&#8217; victories have not been their\u00a0victories, he said, and while the politicians\u00a0celebrated,\u00a0the people struggled.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;January 20th, 2017,&#8221; he said, &#8220;will be remembered as the day the people\u00a0became the rulers of this nation again.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p> <img decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/usa.timesofnews.com\/wp-content\/plugins\/RSSPoster_PRO\/cache\/ee0bd_pepper-sprayed.jpg\" alt=\"Pepper sprayed\" width=\"100%\" \/><\/p>\n<p class=\"figure-caption\">Police officers fire pepper spray at protesters during a demonstration after Trump&#8217;s inauguration. Trump had little to say to his many opponents. (Associated Press)<\/p>\n<p>Cornfield says the speech\u00a0sounded &#8220;very angry&#8221; and like &#8220;classic populism.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;Establishment versus the people, and leaving no doubt which side he was on,&#8221; the professor said.<\/p>\n<p>Trump\u00a0portrayed\u00a0a bleak America of rusted-out factories &#8220;scattered like tombstones,&#8221;\u00a0where poverty, crime, drugs and guns are rampant in inner cities.<\/p>\n<p>He spoke about rebuilding infrastructure\u00a0and, using\u00a0particularly vivid\u00a0language,\u00a0vowed that &#8220;this American carnage stops right here and stops right now.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p class=\"figure-caption\"><strong class=\"spaced\">Trump: &#8216;The establishment protected itself&#8217;<\/strong>0:58<\/p>\n<p>It&#8217;s that concrete, dystopian\u00a0language that characterized Trump&#8217;s address, said\u00a0Schnure, who is also an adjunct professor of public communication at American University in Washington.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;The most famous\u00a0line of this speech is going to\u00a0be &#8216;American carnage,'&#8221; he\u00a0said.<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>PHOTOS | <a href=\"http:\/\/www.cbc.ca\/1.3945486\">Highlights from the inauguration<\/a><\/strong><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"http:\/\/www.cbc.ca\/news\/world\/trump-inauguration-speech-1.3944939\"><strong>Watch and read Trump&#8217;s inaugural address<\/strong><\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>But Foner says using such grim language might have been a shrewd move. By painting such a bleak picture of the nation, Trump\u00a0can now\u00a0claim he&#8217;s responsible for any improvement.<\/p>\n<p>Trump also hammered home his America-first pledge, promising that, from this day forward, every decision, whether it be on trade, taxes, immigration or foreign affairs, would be guided by the principle that it must benefit American workers and families.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;We will follow two simple rules:\u00a0buy American and hire American,&#8221; he said.<\/p>\n<p>There were also differences with some of his previous speeches. When he did speak about unity, he invoked religion, something very typical of an inaugural address, said Aaron Kall, director of debate at the\u00a0University of Michigan\u00a0and editor\u00a0of\u00a0<em>I Do Solemnly Swear: Presidential Inaugural Addresses of the Last Forty Years.<\/em><\/p>\n<p> <img decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/usa.timesofnews.com\/wp-content\/plugins\/RSSPoster_PRO\/cache\/ee0bd_trump-inauguration.jpg\" alt=\"Trump Inauguration\" width=\"100%\" \/><\/p>\n<p class=\"figure-caption\">Trump fired off a hard-hitting campaign-style inauguration speech that used &#8216;America first&#8217; populist rhetoric, attacked Washington insiders and decried the state of the country. (Patrick Semansky\/Associated Press)<\/p>\n<p>He says Trump&#8217;s remarks were much more tempered when he\u00a0made reference to the Bible and how it &#8220;tells us how good and pleasant it is when God&#8217;s people live together in unity.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;We must speak our minds openly, debate our disagreements honestly but always pursue solidarity,&#8221; the president said.<\/p>\n<p>\u200bTrump, who has had a rocky time discussing religion in public, handled\u00a0that well, Kall said.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;He tied that directly to unity, trying to unify the country and to having a good hard-line stance against things like prejudice and racism.&#8221;<\/p>\n<h2>Campaign mode<\/h2>\n<p>And he seemed to give\u00a0a nod to <a href=\"https:\/\/www.jfklibrary.org\/Research\/Research-Aids\/Ready-Reference\/JFK-Quotations\/Inaugural-Address.aspx\">John F. Kennedy&#8217;s 1961 inaugural address<\/a>, saying\u00a0the U.S. stands ready to &#8220;unlock the mysteries of space, to free the Earth from the miseries of disease and to harness the energies, industries and technologies of\u00a0tomorrow.&#8221;\u00a0(Kennedy,\u00a0for his part, had called on Americans to &#8220;explore the stars, conquer the deserts, eradicate disease, tap the ocean depths and encourage the arts and commerce.&#8221;)<\/p>\n<p class=\"figure-caption\"><strong class=\"spaced\">Trump: &#8216;This American carnage&#8230;stops right now&#8217;<\/strong>0:56<\/p>\n<p>The speech also had\u00a0a similar theme to the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.c-span.org\/video\/?182163-1\/president-reagan-1981-inaugural-address\">1981 inaugural address of Ronald Reagan<\/a>, which Trump had earlier suggested he would pattern his address after. Both attacked the government, but Trump lashed out at the political powerbrokers themselves\u00a0while Reagan, more philosophically, argued that government as a whole had become too obtrusive and championed the power of the individual.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;I thought we&#8217;d see a more sunny tone today,&#8221; Kall said.<\/p>\n<p>Mostly, the speech was one of a president still in campaign mode and similar to addresses Trump gave at political rallies and at the Republican national convention in Cleveland in July.<\/p>\n<p \/>\n<p \/>\n<p \/>\n<p \/>\n<p \/>\n<p \/>\n<p \/>\n<p \/>\n<p \/>\n<p \/>\n<p \/>\n<p \/>\n<p \/>\n<p \/>\n<p \/>\n<p \/>\n<p \/>\n<p \/>\n<p \/>\n<p \/>\n<p \/>\n<p \/>\n<p \/>\n<p \/>\n<p \/>\n<p \/>\n<p \/>\n<p \/>\n<p \/>\n<p \/>\n<ul>\n<li><a href=\"http:\/\/www.cbc.ca\/news\/world\/trump-sworn-in-45th-president-1.3945268\" target=\"_blank\"><strong>Trump vows to end &#8216;American carnage&#8217; <\/strong><\/a><\/li>\n<li><strong>\u200bANALYSIS|\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/www.cbc.ca\/news\/world\/trump-obama-history-boag-1.3943264\" id=\"topstory-headline-1.3943264\" target=\"_blank\">How history could make strange bedfellows of Obama and Trump<\/a><\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p \/>\n<p><strong>\u200b<\/strong>Putting aside whether one agrees with his positions, his address was no different than a campaign speech, Foner said.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;Normally, [presidents] try to elevate their rhetoric a little bit or speak more broadly to the nation.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p \/>\n<p \/>\n<p \/>\n<p \/>\n<p \/>\n<p \/>\n<p \/>\n<p \/>\n<p \/>\n<p \/>\n<p \/>\n<p \/>\n<p \/>\n<p \/>\n<p \/>\n<p \/>\n<p \/>\n<p \/>\n<p \/>\n<p \/>\n<p \/>\n<p \/>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>It was classic\u00a0Donald Trump \u2014\u00a0a\u00a0hard-hitting campaign-style inauguration speech by the new\u00a0president of the United States that\u00a0used\u00a0&#8220;America\u00a0first&#8221; populist\u00a0rhetoric,\u00a0attacked\u00a0Washington insiders and decried the state of the country. &#8220;He\u00a0is\u00a0a president like no\u00a0other, and his inaugural address is without\u00a0parallel\u00a0in recent memory,&#8221; said Michael Cornfield, associate professor of political management at George Washington University in D.C. &#8220;It was\u00a0confrontational,\u00a0angry, populist, plain-spoken, [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":64017,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[84],"class_list":["post-64016","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-political","tag-political"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/usa.timesofnews.com\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/64016","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/usa.timesofnews.com\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/usa.timesofnews.com\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usa.timesofnews.com\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usa.timesofnews.com\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=64016"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/usa.timesofnews.com\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/64016\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usa.timesofnews.com\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/64017"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/usa.timesofnews.com\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=64016"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usa.timesofnews.com\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=64016"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usa.timesofnews.com\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=64016"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}