Donald Trump has many rhetorical tics: insisting that “nobody” can surpass him, reliance on the onomatopoeiac “bing,” and a penchant for saying “billions and billions,” to name just a few.Another tic of “Trump-speak” involves contradicting himself within a single sentence.
Generally these are not substantive changes in policy position; more often they’re immediate reversals on pledges not to brag or insult his opponents. It’s a bit unclear which of these 180s are deliberate, but fans of George Orwell may recognize the similarities between Trump’s linguistic U-turns and the paradoxical “doublethink” and “newspeak” of “1984,” a book that’s seen a resurgence in popularity since the election.