Today we released an analysis spelling out the type of adjectives that news reporters ascribe to President Trump. We looked at every broadcast evening news story about President Trump from January 1 through September 10, and we tracked the amount of times that specific emotional qualifiers were attributed to Trump. The list and the graphic below depict our findings:
Broadcast journalists were most likely to use highly-charged words to describe Trump as unhinged or out-of-control. Viewers heard Trump described as "furious" (17 times), "fuming" (14 times), "outraged" (8 times), "venting" (5 times), "livid" (3 times), "enraged" (3 times), "seething" (2 times), or just plain-old "angry" (23 times).
Trump's communication style also was categorized using the following attributes: "lashing out" (53 times), on a "tirade" (8 times), "blasting" (5 times), or "erupting" (3 times). At various times, Trump was also "on the warpath," "volcanic," "unglued," "spoiling for a fight," and even "went ballistic" according to TV reporters.
In contrast, he was described as "happy" (including other related synonyms) a total of 23 times during the course of six months.
This colorful depiction of Trump hasn't fallen on deaf ears. The correlation between reporters' language and with public perception is revealed in a September 10 Quinnipiac poll. This poll showed that 65% of voters believed that the President was "not level-headed" and that a 55% majority agreed that Trump "is not fit to serve as President."
