Here's How Many Times Trump Said 'I' in His First SOTU Address... Compare That with Obama's
The language used by President Donald Trump in his first ever State of the Union speech on Tuesday contrasted sharply with the words of former President Barack Obama when he addressed Congress in 2010.
According to a transcript of the speech released by CNN, Trump referred to himself in the first person singular 30 times. He said the word “I” 29 times, in addition to adding one “me.”
Obama, when he delivered his first State of the Union, used “some version of ‘I’ or ‘me’ nearly 100 times,” wrote Dan Gainor, the vice president for business and culture at the Media Research Center.
In an op-ed for Fox News, Gainor wrote that Obama made these “I” or “me” references nearly four times as often as Trump did.
“Obama’s 2010 speech was littered with “I” or a contraction in some form or another — 88 times, with another 10 “me,” Gainor wrote.
In one sentence, for example, Obama managed to say the word “I” four times.
“But when I ran for president, I promised I wouldn’t just do what was popular, I would do what was necessary,” the then-president said.
There was only one time, meanwhile, when Trump said “I” twice in the same sentence, according to Gainor.
As Gainor noted, mainstream media outlets often accuse Trump of having a massive ego. A recent headline from Vanity Fair read, “Will Trump’s ego launch a nuclear war?” Moreover, Politico tried to connect the president’s ego to alleged Russian interference in the 2016 presidential election.
But if their speeches are any indication, it’s Obama, not Trump, who was obsessed with himself, Gainor suggested.
A 2009 study from NewsBusters, a division of the MRC, claimed that in his first 41 speeches as president, Obama mentioned himself 1,198 times.
Trump’s Tuesday address could not have been more different.
In addition to limiting his usage of “I” and “me,” Trump made a point of saying the words “we” or “our.”
According to The Daily Caller, Trump said “we” 129 times, and “our” 104 times.
“As long as we are proud of who we are and what we are fighting for, there is nothing we cannot achieve,” Trump said near the end of his 80-minute long address. “As long as we have confidence in our values, faith in our citizens, and trust in our God, we will never fail.”
“Our families will thrive. Our people will prosper. And our nation will forever be safe and strong and proud and mighty and free,” he added, emphasizing the importance of coming together as Americans and celebrating our shared heritage.
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