Charlotte Shields-Rossi | a&e editor

Before he became the 45th and 47th president of the United States, Donald Trump was known as a media personality. Most well known for hosting and co-producing “The Apprentice” and making a cameo appearance in “Home Alone 2: Lost in New York,” the idea of president was just a talking point for comedians. Lacking the traditional qualifications and experience tied to becoming president, Trump had to compensate by doing what he did best, working a crowd, and he succeeded, as in 2016 he was inaugurated as the 45th President of the United States, and in 2024 as the 47th.

For the past 10 years, Trump — like it or not — has become the face of American politics. Although divisive, Trump is generally believed to be comedic due to his outrageous personality.

Whether you are laughing with him or at him, you are laughing. We tend to overlook the offensive comments and dangerous rhetoric he spreads, as long as he is quotable.

Trump is an avid user of the social platform X (formerly known as Twitter). Oftentimes he uses his social media presence to insult his adversaries and spread bigoted and untrue messages. Fine as a host of “The Apprentice,” not so fine as leader of the free world.

Some of his thousands of social media posts become so influential, they become associated with him — a “Trumpism” if you will.

These so-called Trumpisms are common phrases and statements created or popularized by Trump. Both sides of the political spectrum have seemingly adopted them in the past several years, some not even realizing where they came from. Taking on these Trumpisms rationalizes Trump and his otherwise incoherent babble.

As election results started rolling in on Nov. 3, 2020, many of the key battleground states were red, but many of the states ended up blue, due to mail-in ballots. 58% of Joe Biden’s voters used mail-in ballots, whereas only 32% of Trump’s voters used them.

Due to the counting of mail-in ballots, which had a higher percentage of votes for Biden, when compared to Trump, 58% of Biden voters and 32% of Trump voters used mail-in ballots, according to PEW Research Center.

“STOP THE COUNT!” Trump wrote on X on Nov. 5 of that year. It was his last ditch effort to win the election. Two days later, all major news outlets reported that Biden had won the 2020 presidential election.

Though his tweet did not “STOP THE COUNT” as he demanded, it still stuck with people and earned a place in pop culture, ending up as one of the most memorable and “memeable” Trump tweets with even mainstream media covering his Twitter demand as
the election wrapped up.

Yes, seeing a grown man have an online temper tantrum was funny, but the message was dangerous. In the simplest way possible he was advocating for certified votes to be thrown out because he didn’t like the results.

This tweet, among others during the same time frame, hinted toward Trump believing the election results were invalid, and convincing his followers along the way. This dangerous idea had real world consequences two months later.

On January 6, 2021 Congress had a joint session to finalize the electoral votes, officially making Biden the winner of the 2020 presidential election. Trump called for a protest outside of the U.S. Capitol. Thousands of Trump supporters, embolden by his words, attacked police officers in an effort to breach the capitol. Five people died, 174 police officers were injured and the damage caused to the building exceeded $2.7 million.

Two days later Trump’s Twitter was banned.

Trump — pre- and post-election cycle — has always been seemingly okay with spreading false information that could cause harm. Trump is quick to spread misinformation, but also quick to point the finger when he believes something is fake.

Although Trump didn’t create the phrase ‘fake news’ he certainly popularized it duringthe 2016 presidential election cycle.

“Reports by @CNN that I will be working on The Apprentice during my presidency, even part time, are ridiculous & untrue – FAKE NEWS!” Trump wrote on social media in December 2016.

Fake news is certainly one of the most popular “Trumpisms.” It’s simple and aggressive, a hallmark of Trump’s language. Yes, people still use it in its original context, but also have seemingly adopted it into their language in a less serious way. When someone lies to you, you may jokingly call what they said fake news.

The issue, once again, is that this Trumpism used in daily language has actually shifted the attitude Americans have toward mainstream media. In a PBS article from 2018, a woman said “I never considered the news being fake until Trump became president.” A sentiment many seem to share, as people have become more weary of mainstream media in recent years

Trump has changed the political landscape in the past 10 years, but he has also changed the way we speak. Laughing at his outrageous comments and adopting his language gives him the attention he feeds off of. Comedic as he may be, when we start to use Trump’s phrases as our own we take from what he said too, erasing the context and normalizing his abhorrent social media behavior and presence.

Charlotte Shields-Rossi can be reached at @shieldsrossic@duq.edu