The characteristic rhetorical device of our political era is the insult. Donald Trump, who understands that insults make news, rode to the presidency on a torrent of “l(fā)osers”, “elites” and “nasty” women. Meanwhile, his opponents gave it right back to him.
This year’s US presidential campaign will be worse, partly because Trump has turned up the political volume, and partly because social distancing has shifted even more of life on to insult-rich social media.
Twitter use has jumped, while Facebook’s founder Mark Zuckerberg has reported an unprecedented three-billion-plus people a month using Facebook, Instagram, WhatsApp and Messenger.