Jennifer Mercieca

Guest Author

Dr. Jennifer Mercieca (@JenMercieca) is an historian of American political rhetoric. She is Professor in the Department of Communication at Texas A&M University and is a Contributing Editor for Zócalo Public Square.

Jennifer writes about American political discourse, especially as it relates to citizenship, democracy, and the presidency. Jennifer has published three books about political rhetoric: Founding Fictions, The Rhetoric of Heroic Expectations: Establishing the Obama Presidency, and Demagogue for President: The Rhetorical Genius of Donald Trump.

Her latest book, Demagogue for President: The Rhetorical Genius of Donald Trump was reviewed in the Washington Post, which said that “it deserves a place alongside George Orwell’s ‘Politics and the English Language’ and Harry G. Frankfurt’s ‘On Bulls—.’ It’s a brilliant dissertation on Trump’s patented brand of balderdash. That makes it one of the most important political books of this perilous summer.” Reviews in Politico and Salon called the book a “must read” and “highly recommended.” It has been awarded the Association of American Publishers’ 2021 PROSE Award for Excellence in Social Sciences: Government & Politics and is a Foreword Indies Winner, earning a Bronze medal in the category of Political & Social Sciences.

She has written about rhetoric and politics for The Conversation, Zócalo Public Square, USA Today, Washington Post, and other major media outlets. She has been interviewed about rhetoric and politics by the BBC World News, NPR’s All Things Considered, NPR’s 1A, Diane Rehm, The New York Times, CNN, The Guardian, Vice News, Australia’s ABC Radio, Slate, USA Today, and many other outlets throughout the United States and Worldwide.

She is currently writing a book about ubiquitous propaganda and our broken public sphere.