Grotesque and Terrifying Rhetoric: An Examination

On a recent White House web page, green glowing letters ominously appeared against a dark backdrop. They seemed to promise a release of long-awaited secret files, yet the scary creatures implied are not what one might expect. Instead of extraterrestrials, the page targeted immigrants, with a tone more akin to a dystopian film than a governmental announcement.

The web page, posted last Thursday, describes immigrants as though they were nonhuman invaders. It announces, “Aliens have been walking among us, living in our neighborhoods, and interacting with us in our daily lives.” The phraseology, likening immigrants to intruders, veils a darker message beneath its facade of trolling humor.

Ernesto Verdeja, a genocide-prevention expert at the University of Notre Dame, referred to this approach as “grotesque and terrifying and juvenile.” Such presentations challenge writers due to their blatant ugliness. These rhetorical gestures slowly reshape societal norms, step by subtle step.

The page includes statements like, “They do not belong here” and, “Deport them all,” which may incite violence against immigrant communities. However, according to Benjamin Valentino, a professor of government at Dartmouth College, the primary aim is to encourage inaction among the populace while the government’s systematic actions persist behind a cloak of indifference.

Valentino, who co-founded the Early Warning Project, highlights that the language used by the Trump administration mirrors historical indicators of potential mass violence. Such terms don’t convert ordinary people into perpetrators of violence directly; rather, they render them passive observers. The real danger lies in fostering an environment where societal compassion and resistance diminish, allowing governmental policies to proceed unchallenged.