I will also end the government policy of trying to socially engineer race and gender into every aspect of public and private life.
This line uses enthymematic logic by assuming the audience already sees diversity or equity initiatives as overreach—there’s no argument, just a conclusion: they must be stopped. The missing premise (“social engineering is harmful or unnatural”) is left unstated, encouraging the audience to supply it based on ideological predisposition. This rhetorical move strengthens ethos, as Trump appears decisive, speaking a “common-sense truth” others are too afraid to voice. The phrase “every aspect of public and private life” exaggerates the scope of intervention to heighten emotional identification and urgency.
Ideologically, Trump suppresses and therefore marginalizes leftist values of race and gender equality/expression. Throughout the speech many such instances of suppression are seen which shroud leftist policies as standing in opposition to the dominating ideals of nationalism, a return to old greatness, and restoration of rightful power dynamics.
In her paper, Nationalistic Rhetoric as a Tool for Repressing Social Movements, Ajla Jakupovic outlines some of the underlying processes which allow for rhetoric to undermin social movements or ideologies:
"negative statements towards movements not only are words stated in response to a protest, but that the statements are tactics meant to undermine the movement as a whole. For protestors to be able to alter government and societal behavior, they need support from people in society who will join their agenda and movement. Through negative statements one could limit the possibility for movements to receive supporters and therefore reduce their chances to achieve their goal (ibid.). With negative repressive rhetoric, one aims to frame the state and the opposing group in ways which ensure the state’s survival. With public statements the speaker could frame the opposition as a threat and simultaneously frame the state as safe. Repressive rhetoric is meant to work through two mutually constitutive mechanisms, by convincing others that the movement is illegitimate and by creating noise in public discourse to interrupt the protest and limit its chances to gain support (ibid.). "
https://www.diva-portal.org/smash/get/diva2:1761690/FULLTEXT01.pdf
Given Trump's base and the context of his address and platform- this use of such language to undermine ideologies that stand in the way of his agenda, can be seen as a substantial and effective attack on his opposition and a reclamation of narrative authority.
