Rhetorical Analysis Of Breitbart News

Joel Pollak, a senior political editor, writes on the topic of Russian hacking of the 2016 U.S Presidential election in Breitbart News, an online publication that aligns with his right-wing views. His article aims to persuade reader’s that the CIA’s allegations of Russian hacking within the election are false, all while reassuring republican supporters that they have “nothing to fear” (Pollak, 2016), as they won the election fairly. While Pollak’s logical and emotional appeals are strong, his political bias heavily impacts his argument. In addition, several fallacies become apparent throughout his article. Though Pollak’s argument is well-structured, readers should account for the heavy political leanings of the author, the website, and the …show more content…
In his emotional appeal to the audience, he frequently repeats the idea of ‘left-wing fake news,’ to elicit a response, yet there is no explanation as to what he is referencing. This name-calling attempts to undermine the stories and media that supported the democratic party, but is meaningless, as it remains undefined. He also presents several bandwagon appeals, in which he suggests that if others have benefited from similar actions, why can’t the Republican Party? Specifically, Pollak’s fifth and eighth point argue that since the Obama administration has been accused of manipulating media for political gain, and for interfering in foreign politics, it is of no consequence that the Russian’s are doing the same now. This shift of blame offers no resolution, and leaves Pollak’s argument sounding …show more content…
His main purpose, as indicated in his thesis, is to show that Russian hacking in the U.S election did not occur. However, many of his points do not support this idea. For example, in his fourth point, Pollak argues that while there very well may have been hacking, it did not specifically affect voting. Later, in his seventh point, he concedes that while “Russians might constantly be trying to hack U.S. systems, and might even specifically have targeted the election” (Pollak, 2016), it is not clear that they succeeded. If Pollak’s aim was to specifically discount the success of Russian hackers in the voting process, these arguments would be valid. However, his purpose is to advocate that there was no involvement at all, including any hacking to release stories to sway voters, or media support to encourage the continued publication of