It is a frustrating time to be an American. With so much going on, it was hard to pick what exactly to even write about. Do I write about the authoritarian use of force on nonviolent protesters so the president could take a photo op? Do I write about the systematic racism still prevalent throughout the US? What about the numerous, multiple, many instances of police officers inciting violence and using unnecessary force, disregarding the people 1st amendment right to a peaceful protest? But rather than going into that and discussing how these instances that have created more anger leading to more violence, I'll instead talk about rhetoric, more specifically, the rhetoric of our president.

Now you might be asking me, what's rhetoric? You'll probably think back to high school english class, that word that your teacher used a lot but you didn't quite understand what they were actually saying when they used it. Put simply, rhetoric is how you say what you are saying, and the effect that your words have. Think back to when your mom would ask you to empty the dishwasher. She could say "Billy can you empty the dishwasher by the time I get back from work?" invoking the feeling of relaxation, that you can empty the dishwasher on your own time, just get it done please. If you forget to empty the dishwasher (hey, it happens) more often than not she would come home and yell "BILLY COME EMPTY THIS $%&#ING DISHWASHER RIGHT NOW," which invokes a feeling of oh shit I better go do that if I don't want to cook my own dinners for the next week. Both instances have the same message; "Empty the dishwasher" however one carries a rhetoric that says I don't care how soon you do it, just get it done before I get home and the other says You better empty this dishwasher if you don't wanna sleep outside tonight. That's rhetoric, what is said and how it is said. Now that we've gotten that crash course out of the way, let's jump into looking at President Trump's Rhetoric on two separate occasions.

The first occasion is a protest of the COVID inspired shutdown in Michigan. There was a large assembly of a few hundred peaceful protesters, however there was also a group that showed up to the protest armed with assault weapons.

A militia group stands in front of the governors office. Photograph: Seth Herald/Reutersi.guim.co.uk

A day after this protests, President Trump tweeted "The Governor of Michigan should give a little, and put out the fire. These are very good people, but they are angry. They want their lives back again, safely! See them, talk to them, make a deal."

Here Trump is making it clear that there is no need to be afraid of these people, they're just angry, and they "want their lives back again," He urges the Governor to talk to them.

I'll also mention that the article states that "It is legal to openly carry firearms inside Michigan's state capitol building." so nothing illegal was done here and no violence broke out between police and protesters. However I still wonder why these people felt the need to bring assault weapons with them. Did they want look threatening? Did they want to protect themselves from the police? I can't speak for their intentions but I have a hard time believing that if people showed up with similar weapons to a BLM protest that they would be received similarly.

I could spend time talking about Trump disregarding his own advice and hiding in the white house bunker instead of talking to angry people who want their lives back (with many African americans claiming their lives have never felt entirely safe to begin with), but instead I'll jump into the next event, the protests that happened in Minneapolis the day after George Floyd's death.

On May 26, the day after Floyd's death, a Minneapolis protest organized with the intention of staying peaceful was turned violent and protestors were teargassed, regardless of whether or not they were violent. One protester was quoted saying "I got on my knees and I put up a peace sign and they tear gassed me,". In this case we have a scenario where people are protesting police violence and brutality, and the police respond to that, and have been responding to that all across the country, with more violence.

Rather than speak out against this injustice against these protesters, or the systemic racism at play in America, or calling for unity, President Trump waited until 2 days after Floyd's death to make any sort of acknowledgment via twitter. His acknowledgement reads, "At my request, the FBI and the Department of Justice are already well into an investigation as to the very sad and tragic death in Minnesota of George Floyd... (1/2) I have asked for this investigation to be expedited and greatly appreciate all of the work done by local law enforcement. My heart goes out to George's family and friends. Justice will be served! (2/2)"

Now this is great, however he isn't making any sort of call to ensure this doesn't happen again, he is simply doing the bare minimum and making sure these officers are held accountable. This is a good step, but the solution is to ensure that this doesn't happen ever again, not to ensure that when it does happen that the people are convicted.

The next day Trump went on to finally acknowledge the protesters, saying "I can't stand back & watch this happen to a great American City, Minneapolis. A total lack of leadership. Either the very weak Radical Left Mayor, Jacob Frey, get his act together and bring the City under control, or I will send in the National Guard & get the job done right...(1/2) These THUGS are dishonoring the memory of George Floyd, and I won't let that happen. Just spoke to Governor Tim Walz and told him that the Military is with him all the way. Any difficulty and we will assume control but, when the looting starts, the shooting starts. Thank you! (2/2)"

Why is it that when violence breaks out in response to a peaceful protest and creates more violence, the people are "thugs" however when people storm Michigan's Capital with assault weapons and wait outside of the governors office, they are "very good people, but they are angry" ? Where is the line? Furthermore, he fails to even acknowledge the problem of police brutality, only calling for justice the man killed on video. Meanwhile he rationalized and encouraged Michigan protesters, tweeting "LIBERATE MICHIGAN!"

He fails to acknowledge the injustices that are angering many Americans, however when it's a group of people protesting the lock down he is on their side. In the past few days, he has even advocated for military force to be used on civilians, claiming the protests and riots are "acts of terror", but again, why were protesters storming Michigan's Capital with assault weapons not considered to be committing acts of terror? Why is it only these protests and riots that are considered acts of terror? Are the numerous instances of police abusing their power not considered acts of terror? Where is his commentary on that?

In a time when we are so divided that cities across America have become a war zone between citizens and police, our president continues to encourage the use of force, only creating more divide and more anger, when instead he should be bringing us together to unite and grow as a nation. These days we are living in will no doubt end up in a history textbook, but it is up to us to decide what happens next in our story. So please, vote to voice your opinion, donate to the right causes, protest if you can do so safely, and do what you can to make the world around you better, day by day.