President Trump “might finish his presidential term without ever speaking a complete sentence—subject, object, predicate,” critiqued conservative columnist George Will in The Washington Post two days after last week’s presidential debate on September 29.
While Will’s words are an exaggeration, they contain a truth: President Trump often speaks and writes in disjointed phrases rather than in complete thoughts. Perhaps this is because his preferred method of writing is tweets—tiny bursts of information which dispense with the rigors of grammar.
I wonder what past presidents would think of Trump’s fragments? Cerebral Jefferson—who composed his classic sentences using elegant Eighteenth Century logic? Plain-spoken Lincoln—who crafted beauty and compassion from one- and two-syllable Anglo-Saxon words? Poetic Kennedy—who relied on myriad figures of speech to inspire his generation and ours?
What words of Trump will be remembered by posterity? You’re fired?
English Writing Teacher 