“THE ORANGE EMPEROR, THE BITCH, AND THE SLUT” - MEME ATTACKS ON TRUMP, CLINTON, AND HARRIS

Aug 28, 2026

The study examines gendered meme attacks aimed at Donald Trump, Hillary Clinton, and Kamala Harris across the 2016 and 2024 U.S. presidential election campaigns using William Benoit’s Theory of Persuasive Attack. The research analyzes visual parody and satire as a message form deploying varied attack strategies. Prominent tactics target character through references to race, gender, and morality, pairing trait-consistent accusations, statements, associations, contrasts, and offensive exemplifications, alongside attacks on actions such as prior commission, derived benefit, damage extent, and inconsistency. Strategies are discussed with implications for how memes rhetorically shape presidential politics, gender, and race.

LanguageEnglish

CategoryResearch & Report

FormatPDF

Pages22

Reading Time55 min

AccessFree to download

Introduction

Background of the 2016 election

Background of the 2024 election

| “THE ORANGE EMPEROR, THE BITCH, AND THE SLUT”: MEME ATTACKS ON TRUMP, CLINTON, AND HARRIS | | --- | | Kevin A. Stein :: Matthew H. Barton | | ORIGINAL RESEARCH ARTICLE / DOI: 10. 20901/ms.17.33. 7 / SUBMITTED: 4.12.2025.
ABSTRACT This study examines the gendered meme attacks against Donald Trump, Hillary Clinton, and Kamala Harris during their 2016 and 2024 presidential election campaigns using William Benoit’s Theory of Persuasive Attack. This unique message form, often consisting of visual parody and satire, utilizes a variety of attack strategies. The most prominent attacks were those targeting character, including references to race, gender, and morality. Specific strategies included the following: accused has performed acts consistent with the trait, accused has made statements consistent with the trait, accused associates with people who share the trait, accused is contrasted with people who do not share the trait, and exemplifying the trait with a particularly offensive example. Attacks on actions were also present. These included accused committed the act before, accused benefited from the act, extent of damage, and inconsistency. Each strategy is discussed along with implications for the future study of the rhetorical influence of memes within the context of presidential politics, gender, and race.
KEYWORDS | | DONALD TRUMP, HILLARY CLINTON, KAMALA HARRIS, MEMES, BENOIT, ATTACK | Author’s note Kevin A. Stein :: Southern Utah University :: [stein@suu.edu](stein@suu.edu)[ ](stein@suu.edu)[Matthew H. Barton ::](Matthew H. Barton :: Southern Utah University :: bartonm@suu.edu)[ Southern Utah University](Matthew H. Barton :: Southern Utah University :: bartonm@suu.edu)[ ::](Matthew H. Barton :: Southern Utah University :: bartonm@suu.edu)[ bartonm@suu.edu](Matthew H. Barton :: Southern Utah University :: bartonm@suu.edu) MEDIJSKE STUDIJE MEDIA STUDIES 2026 . 17 . (33) . 123-144 123 MEDIJSKE STUDIJE MEDIA STUDIES 2026 . 17 . (33) . 123-144 124 K. A. Stein, M. H. Barton : “THE ORANGE EMPEROR, THE BITCH, AND THE SLUT”: MEME ATTACKS ON ... ORIGINAL RESEARCH ARTICLE / DOI: 10. 20901/ms.17.33. 7 / SUBMITTED: 4.12.2025. INTRODUCTION The 2016 and 2024 presidential elections were two of the most distinctive in the history of the United States (Beschloss, 2016; “UConn scholars,” 2024). In 2016, Hillary Clinton became the first woman to win a major-party nomination. Prior to that time, two women – Geraldine Ferraro in 1984 and Sarah Palin in 2008 – had been selected as presidential running mates for Walter Mondale and John McCain, respectively (Kelly, 2016). The 2016 general election featured two candidates from very different backgrounds. Hillary Clinton was a career politician, having promoted her own policy agendas as First Lady between 1992 and 2000, serving as a senator in New York between 2001 and 2009, and assuming the role of Secretary of State under Barack Obama between 2009 and 2013 (Merica, 2016). Donald Trump, on the other hand, had almost no political experience prior to his campaign in 2016 (Crockett, 2017), although he had considered running in 1988, 2000, 2004, and 2008 (Waterhouse, n.d.). Additionally, there were notable differences in gender, ideology, and public presentation style. Despite their perceived differences, Clinton and Trump shared unusually low favorability ratings (Yourish, 2016) and demonstrated a willingness to use political ads and social media to engage in a vitriolic campaign of attack discourse, often focusing on the character attributes of their opponent (Zompetti, 2019). The 2024 election was also historically distinctive. The campaign represented only the second time in U.S. history that a former president was seeking reelection after losing asthe incumbent. The other was President Grover Cleveland, who served as both the 24th and 26th presidents ofthe United States (Desilver, 2022). Most presidents long for a second term in office, but Donald Trump was perhaps e

FAQs

Which candidates and election years are analyzed in this study?

The study analyzes gendered meme attacks targeting Donald Trump, Hillary Clinton, and Kamala Harris during the 2016 and 2024 presidential election campaigns.

What framework guides the analysis of meme attacks?

The analysis uses William Benoit’s Theory of Persuasive Attack to classify the strategies used in the memes.

What kinds of attack strategies are most prominent in the meme content?

The most prominent attacks target character attributes, including claims tied to race, gender, and morality, along with additional strategies that attack actions.

Aug 28, 2026

Uploaded by Felix Montgomery