This essay illustrates how Donald Trump engaged in what I call “populist crisis rhetoric” throughout the COVID-19 pandemic and coinciding 2020 U.S. presidential campaign cycle. By performing a critical rhetorical analysis of textual fragments surrounding how Trump addressed the preventative measure of mask-wearing, I show how he rejected the role of comforter-in-chief and instead opted for the role of victim-in-chief. Specifically, turning the bare face into a litmus test of Trump loyalism, his rhetoric suggested that masks threatened masculinity and functioned as a form of anti-choice bodily oppression.

中文翻译：

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面具和除草：民粹主义危机修辞和2020年总统大选

本文说明了唐纳德·特朗普在整个COVID-19大流行和2020年美国总统竞选周期中如何参与所谓的“民粹主义危机言论”。通过围绕特朗普如何解决预防口罩佩戴的预防措施的文字片段进行批判性的修辞分析，我展示了他如何拒绝棉被的作用，而是选择了棉被的作用。具体而言，他的裸露言辞将裸露的脸庞变成特朗普忠诚主义的试金石，暗示口罩威胁着男性气概，并起到了反选择身体压迫的作用。