Critical Discourse A nalysis of COVID-19 P olitical Discourse: Through a Comparison of Speeches by Donald Trump and Andrew Cuomo
The purpose of this s tudy is to analyz e the COVID-19 political discourse from the perspective of critical discourse analysis, to identify what linguistic strategies politicians use to reveal their position and ideologies, and how the social and political situations are reflected in their discourse. The data consist of speeches made by Donald Trump, the former U.S. president, and Andrew Cuomo, the governor of New York, in terms of text, discourse practice, and sociocultural practice using Fairclough’s 3D model. The findings show that the two politicians used terms that separate ‘us-group’ and ‘them-group’, while showing differences in specific vocabulary choices and discourse composition strategies. Trump tended to use positive self-presentation, optimistic expressions, and focused on economic policies, while Cuomo tended to use objective figures, emphasize seriousness, and focus on prevention policies. This forms the way the public perceives society, and conversely, social situations such as racial discrimination and hate issues also affect and interact with discourse strategies.