But, Jimmy, the problem

Uh, I mean, look, I'm for it...

But, look...

We have people coming into our country

that are looking to do tremendous harm.

You look at the two-

Look at Paris.

Look at what happened in Paris.

I mean, these people, they did not come from Sweden

Okay?

Look at what happened in Paris.

Look at what happened last week in California,

with...with, you know, fourteen people dead.

Other people going to die,

they're so badly injured.

We have a real problem.

There's a tremendous hatred out there.

And what I wanna do is find out what-

you know, you can't solve a problem

until you find out what's the root cause.

And I wanna find out what is the problem

what's going on.

And, it's temporary

I've had so many people call me and say thank you.

Now, if you remember, when I did that a week ago

it was like bedlam

All of a sudden --

and you watch last night

and you see people talking.

They say, "Well, Trump has a point.

We have to get down to the problem."

The people that are friends of mine that called,

they said,

"Donald, you've done us a tremendous service,

because we do have a problem

and we have to find out what is the --

-and we have to find out what is the-- -those might have been prank calls

-those may have been prank calls -No, no

One of the things I find fascinating about Donald Trump

is the way he uses language

differently than other candidates for political office,

especially president of the United States

Whereas his opponents and the political class in general seem hyper-aware that

their words would be picked apart and used against them

Trump willfully disregards this fact.

As a lifelong salesman, he has a huckster's knack for selling a feeling

even if the ideas and facts that underscore it are spurious, racist or just plain incomprehensible

so I thought it would be illuminating to look at a Trump answer to a simple question

In this case Jimmy Kimmel asking Trump whether or not it’s wrong to discriminate against people based on their religion

referring to Trump’s proposal to temporarily ban all Muslims from entering the United States

This 220 word, exactly 1 minute answer displays

I think, a range of the things that Trump uses all the time in his speech

The first thing to know is how simple this language is

Of the 220 words, 172, or 78%, are only one syllable

and often they come in a rhythmic series like a volley of jabs ending with one of his buzz words

we have to get down to the problem

39 words, or 17%, are two syllables long

only 4 words have 3 syllables, 3 of which are the word tremendous, tremendous, tremendous

and just two words are 4 syllables long

California, which he’s forced to use because it has less syllables than San Bernardino

and temporary, which he swallows

and it’s temporary, I’ve had so many people

this breakdown fits with the study done by the Boston Globe

that put all 2016 presidential candidates’ announcement speeches

through the Flesch-Kincaid readability test to determine their respective grade level rankings

Donald Trump’s speech came out at the 4th grade reading level

Now for reference, Ben Carson came out at 6th grade

Hillary Clinton and Jeb Bush were speaking at an 8th grade reading level

and Bernie Sanders was a way up in high school, a sophomore, to be exact

Now this isn’t only down to word or syllable choice

it’s about sentence construction, too

Trump favors simple sentences like

we have a real problem, there is a tremendous hatred out there

Rarely does he use complex sentences or independent clauses

He also favors the second person a lot of the time, addressing listeners directly with commands

Look at Paris, Look at what happened in Paris, Look at what happened in Paris, Look at what happened last week in California

Or implicating us in what he’s saying as if we’ve already agreed

and you watch last night, and you see people talking

He’s really good at this, at framing negative response as an over-reaction that was subsequently realized as such

if you remember, when I did that a week ago it was like bedlam.

All of a sudden – and you watch last, and you see people talking.

They said, “Well Trump has a point. We have to get down to the problem."

Maybe the most important technique Trump utilizes and he does this more than anyone I’ve ever heard

is ending his sentences with strong punchy words.

A lot of times he’ll rearrange the beginning of a sentence awkwardly, so that he can end strong.

For example, here, it would probably be more natural to say

you can’t solve a problem until you find out what the root cause is

but he brings the is forward to end on root cause

he does the same here

and it looks like he was going to about the same in the end before Kimmel cuts him off

these final words are crucial for Trump

They’re pointed and taken together sketch the theme of the entire answer

harm, dead, die, badly injured, problem, root cause

thank you, bedlam, point, problem, service, problem

In some sense, it’s these words that audiences remember

especially when the rest of the speech is incoherent

Like the best salesman, Trump keeps it simple, he repeats a lot

we have a real problem, what is the problem

we do have a problem, we have to get down to the problem

and he uses his favorite words over and over

tremendous, tremendous, tremendous service

and he always seems to have friends who are part of the group that he’s currently insulting

calling him up and thanking him for the privilege

many of them called me they said you know Donald, you’re right, we have a problem and look, there is a problem

Donald Trump knows when to sound incredulous, or forceful

He has good comedic instinct, you can even call him witty

but you can’t call him smart or well informed

the best salesman could sell you a TV without knowing anything about it

because the TV isn’t what matters.

What matters, is you.

And if you are an American citizen who, for years

has listened to politicians sound sophisticated while accomplishing nothing

you might just be primed for something

that is everything they are not.

But the next time you feel like Donald Trump has a point

do yourself a favor

and look at his words.

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