Abstract

In 2024, as the U.S. election draws close, the media partition bias is increasingly obtrusive in its media framing. This essay explores the broader implications of this rhetorical shift by first analyzing the introduction of “weird” in the 2024 U.S. election discourse with Tim Walz’s viral comment and then comparing the term’s usage by MSNBC and Fox News to explore the partisan usage of the term and how they influence public perception, weaponize humor, and construct biased narratives. The comparisons will center around how semantic framing of words like “weird” creates effective negative priming for the audience and strengthens emotional tendencies such as cue-taking or confirmation bias. Finally, the essay discusses the broader implications of this rhetorical shift, embedding political battles into everyday life and complicating American political discourse. While not new in strategy, the essay underscores how this linguistic tactic uniquely infiltrates common language, reshaping political engagement in contemporary America and further polarizing American society.

Keywords: Semantic Framing, Political Discourse, Rhetorical Strategy, Partisan Bias, Media Polarization

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