POWER AND IDENTITY: SPEECH ACTS AND CRITICAL DISCOURSE ANALYSIS OF THE 2024 BIDEN-TRUMP PRESIDENTIAL DEBATE

Abstract

Political debates carry ideological underpinnings which can be dissected through critical evaluation. The current study relied on the analysis of the debate between two US presidential candidates namely Donald Trump and Joe Biden during elections 2024. The focus of the study was to identify the most frequently used speech acts in political discourse as well as to explore how did political leaders use performative utterances to shape their narratives. The researchers analyzed the transcript of the debate through the framework of speech act theory and critical discourse analysis (CDA). The study utilized qualitative research paradigm along with content analysis approach. The data, the transcript of the debate, were collected from the archives of political debate of US Presidents. The analysis of the data revealed that the discourse had 60 assertive, 12 directives, 16 commissive, 15 expressive, and 7 declarative statements. The data also revealed that the two presidential candidates used language beyond policy production to construct subjects, maintain difference, create a 'we' or 'they', mobilize pride, and strengthen power.