He touts his tax cuts, but have we ever heard him mention the one tax he’s increased innumerable times, since he became the nation’s president?
The syntax?
In the Cambridge Dictionary, syntax is defined as “the grammatical arrangement of words in a sentence.” The grammatical arrangement. Meaning — in other words — putting words together in sentences.
Hardly a day goes by, when the president isn’t increasing unusual grammatical arrangements, raising his syntax, probably more so than any of his predecessors in the White House.
Here he is, discussing COVID-19, in a Business Insider article:
“Just today and yesterday, some startling facts came out. It’s not just old, older. Young people too, plenty of young people… If you look at children, children are almost, and I would say almost definitely, but almost immune from this disease,” Trump told Fox and Friends in early August.
In an interview with veteran journalist Bob Woodward, reported, recently, in Politico, President Trump said:
“I have built a nuclear, a weapon, I have built a weapon system that nobody’s ever had in this country before… We have stuff that you haven’t even seen or heard about. We have stuff that Putin and Xi have never heard about before… There’s nobody. What we have is incredible… There are systems that nobody knows about, including you, and we have some systems that nobody knows about. And, frankly, I think I’m better off keeping it that way,” said the nation’s chief executive.
Here’s POTUS talking about North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, in a Business Insider article:
“I know everything about him. He killed his uncle and he put the body right in the steps where the senators walked out. And the head was cut, sitting on the chest.”
During an interview with Fox News host Jeanine Pirro — recounted, recently, in a Politico article — the Commander in Chief “was asked how he would respond to incidents of rioting should he be declared the winner on November 3…
“We’ll put them down very quickly if they do that,” he exclaimed. “Look, it’s called insurrection… We just send in, and we do it very easy. I mean, it’s very easy.”
That’s President Trump, raising his syntax to higher and higher levels.
You scratch your head, wondering: What did he just say?
But, then you hear the president’s Chief of Staff, Mark Meadows, noting that “The president has been very clear” about various issues.
Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin also has been quoted saying almost the exact same words — that the “The president has made very clear” something that’s in the news. So has Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, when he’s said that “President Trump has been very clear” about an issue.
Vice President Mike Pence has said essentially the same thing. “Well, the President’s been very clear…”
And, White House Press Secretary Kayleigh McEnany has said much the same, along with one of her predecessors, Sarah Sanders, who told ABC News Chief Anchor George Stephanopoulos “The president’s been very clear… on exactly what he wants.”
While some folks, around POTUS, may feel they, somewhat, understand his syntax, they sure can’t seem to control his habit of constantly increasing it.
Harvey Radin is former senior vice president in charge of corporate communications and media relations, Bank of America Western Region. He makes his home in Redwood City, CA.