MASARYK UNIVERSITY Faculty of Education Department of English Language and Literature The Main Elements Which Led to Donald Trump’s Presidential Victory Master's Thesis Brno 2018 Supervisor: Written by: Michael George M.A. Bc. Andrea Lábadiová Prohlášení: Prohlašuji, že jsem diplomovou práci vypracovala samostatně, a že jsem použila pouze uvedené zdroje. Souhlasím s uložení mé práce na Masarykově univerzitě v Brně v knihovně pedagogické fakulty a s jejím zpřístupněním ke studijním účelům. Brno, 30. března 2018 Andrea Lábadiová Declaration: I declare that I have worked on my thesis independently and that I have used only listed sources. I agree with the deposition of my thesis at Masaryk University, Brno, at the library of Faculty of Education and with making it accessible for study purposes. Brno, 30th March 2018 Andrea Lábadiová 1 Acknowledgments I would like to thank my supervisor Mr. Michael George for his kind, patient and valuable advice and the guidance that he provided during my work on the thesis. 2 Abstract This master’s thesis attempts to explain the main elements in Donald Trump becoming the 45th president of the United States and their significance in the process. The thesis is divided into three main parts. The first part focuses on Donald Trump’s campaign, mainly on his controversial anti-establishment rhetoric with appeals to anger and fear of his au- dience. It also deals with the rise of desire for stronger leadership among the American people. The second part deals with Donald Trump’s voters, mainly their educational lev- els as well as their views on the nature of the American identity, and also opioid problems arising in the US and the correlation with Trump’s success. This part also includes views of women and Hispanic voters and their reasons to vote for Donald Trump. The third part focuses on the role of media, particularly on the FakeNews phenomena, as well as the war between Donald Trump and the mainstream media. This part also analyses the influ- ence of social networks during, particularly Facebook and Twitter and the outcome of the election. Keywords 2016 US presidential election, Donald Trump, Populism, Identity, Education, Fake News, Media, Social networks Anotace Tato diplomová práce se pokouší vysvětlit hlavní elementy ve zvolení Donalda Trumpa 45. prezidentem Spojených států a jejich důležitosti v tomto procesu. Práce je rozdělena na tři hlavní části. První část se zaměřuje na kampaň Donalda Trumpa, zejména na jeho kontroverzní rétorikou proti politickému establishmentu a jeho působením na vztek a strach svého publika. Tato část se také zabývá nárustem potřeby “pevnější ruky” v Ame- rice. Druhá část se zabývá voliči Donalda Trumpa, zejména úrovní jejich vzdělání a také jejich obrazem Americké identity. Také se zabývá nárustem problémů zneužívání omam- ných látek a korelace s úspěchem Donalda Trumpa. Třetí část se zaměřuje na roli médií, zejména na problematiku falešných zpráv. Také se zabývá válkou mezi Donaldem Trum- pem a mainstreamovými médii a vlivem sociálních sítí během prezidentské kampaně a vlivu na výsledek voleb. 3 Klíčová slova Prezidentské volby v Americe 2016, Donald Trump, Populismus, Identita, Vzdělání, Fa- lešné zprávy, Média, Sociální sítě 4 Table of contents 1. Introduction ................................................................................................................... 6 1.1. Electoral College ............................................................................................ 7 2. Campaign strategy ......................................................................................................... 9 2.1. Make America Great Again ........................................................................... 9 2.1.1. Populism and anti-elitism .............................................................. 10 2.2. Use of fear .................................................................................................... 18 2.2.1. Xenophobia, racism ...................................................................... 19 2.2.2. Desire for stronger leadership ....................................................... 21 3. Donald Trump’s Voters .............................................................................................. 25 3.1. Education levels ........................................................................................... 25 3.1.1. Low-information voters vs. college-educated voters .................... 25 3.2. Views on the American identity and the future ........................................... 30 3.2.1. Opioid problems ............................................................................ 32 3.2.2. America first.................................................................................. 33 3.3. Willful ignorance ......................................................................................... 35 3.3.1. Women voters ............................................................................... 35 3.3.2. Latino voters.................................................................................. 41 4. The Role of Media ...................................................................................................... 46 4.1. Donald Trump’s transformation of the news ............................................... 46 4.1.1. Fake news phenomenon ................................................................ 47 4.1.2. War with the media ...................................................................... 52 4.1.3. Social media - Twitter, Facebook ................................................. 56 5. Conclusion .................................................................................................................. 62 Appendix ......................................................................................................................... 64 List of figures .................................................................................................................. 65 Works cited ..................................................................................................................... 82 5 1. Introduction This master’s thesis. “The Main Elements Which Led To Donald Trump’s Presidential Victory”, aims to introduce and study the main factors which were significant in Repub- lican candidate Donald Trump’s triumph in the presidential election of 2016. It will at- tempt to provide answers as to how businessman and entrepreneur Donald Trump, who was considered an outsider of the presidential race, paved his way into the White House. The 2016 US presidential election was by all means controversial and it deserves atten- tion. The campaigns of the two candidates targeted quite different voter groups and the fact that the race was won by Donald Trump is a reflection of American society and un- derlying issues, be it views on immigration, gun ownership or the very core of American identity in light of increasing cultural diversity. The result of the election suggests that there is a rising desire for stronger leadership among American society as the tough language of Donald Trump resonated with many, surprisingly even with women and Hispanic voters, who were often target of Donald Trump’s harsh rhetoric. In addition, Trump’s supporters showed zero tolerance for polit- ically correct speech in politicians of the establishment and welcomed Donald Trump’s controversial style of speaking. This election was also significantly different from the previous ones in the use of social media, especially by Donald Trump, as a form of direct communication with the audience outside the campaign rallies. His campaign was characterized by hostility towards the mainstream media, which also resonated with quite a wide number of voters and ulti- mately gave rise to the so called “alternative news”, also known as FakeNews, frequently by Donald Trump personally. Social platforms structure, such as the one of Facebook, is very different from traditional media as it allows content sharing among the users with almost no fact-checking or edi- torial judgement. The people who spread false news are able to reach as many readers as the New York Times and other media outlets. (Allcot and Gentzkow, Social Media and Fake News) 6 A great number of the false news included anti-Hillary Clinton propaganda in order to harm her electability, which was in contrast with Donald Trump’s overly positive cover- age, found especially in Russian propaganda outlets based in the US - Sputnik News or Russia Today. Many of the elements reach beyond the US 2016 presidential election and Donald Trump. This thesis aims to study the elements deeper to determine the processes which lead to Donald Trump’s presidential triumph. 1.1. Electoral College In order to understand the process of presidential elections in the United States it is es- sential to explain what the Electoral College is and how it works. The Electoral College is a process established by the founding fathers in the Constitution representing a compromise between electing the US president by a Congressional vote and by the vote of American citizens who qualify as legitimate voters. (About, National Archives) First there is a selection of the electors and this process consists of two parts. At first the political parties in each state choose slates of potential electors before the General Elec- tions and in the second part which takes place on the Election day when the voters in all states choose the electors of that particular state in casting the