TOW #12 - Trump Political Cartoon

Throughout the entire 2016 presidential election, Donald Trump appealed to his audience by saying an immense amount of ideas that he admitted after winning the election that he would not officially change in America. In this political cartoon by Joel Pett, an American Pulitzer Prize-winning editorial cartoonist, Trump is expressed to be confused about people who actually believed he meant what he said throughout this election. In this cartoon Trump says, “things that I say…or that get said…by me…they’re just things!” This cartoon reveals how Trump’s words impacted America’s decision for presidency. Trump had promised his supporters many irrational ideas such as, imprisoning Hillary Clinton. He also provided America with over-exaggerated facts that were provided in order to convince many of the citizens to vote for him during the presidential election. The author’s purpose in this political cartoon is to reveal all of Trump’s lies to the American public in order to win the 2016 presidential election. The intended audience of this cartoon is the American citizens because the author is able to show through body positions of Trump and the words in each text that Trump should not have been trusted. The American citizens who supported him should have researched more of the facts but instead were drawn in by Trump’s appeal to pathos. The rhetorical devices used in this political cartoon are parody and a simplistic tone to express to the audience the author’s purpose. The author is making fun of Trump and representing him as a clueless man who is unaware of how his words affect the world. The author makes fun of how Trump promised his supporters many changes that, once elected, it became obvious he was never going to actually make the changes he promised to the American public. The simple tone throughout this p

olitical cartoon displays the author’s views on Trump as he addresses Trump’s oblivious views on what changes are necessary for America. I believe that Pett achieved his purpose because he clearly displays the impact Trump’s words had on people in America and how after he won the presidential election, he revealed that he exaggerated a lot of changes he stated during the election.