Professor Professor Rodney Jones, a linguistics expert at Reading University, found the UK and US leaders used their Covid illnesses to portray themselves as ‘strong leaders’ and draw attention from their ‘failures’ during the pandemic
Boris Johnson and Donald Trump used their bouts with Covid to portray themselves as ‘strong leaders’, an academic has claimed.
The Prime Minister tested positive for coronavirus just days after he plunged Britain into its first lockdown last March.
He spent six nights in hospital and was admitted to intensive care, forcing doctors to make contingency plans in case he died.
Meanwhile, former US President Donald Trump tested positive in October and had a three-day stint fighting the disease in hospital.
Professor Rodney Jones, a linguistics expert at Reading University, said both created a narrative to ‘promote a masculinist discourse’ centred around messages of ‘strength’, ‘swagger’ and ‘courage’.
This subtext was ‘designed to depict them as ‘strong leaders”, he wrote in the journal Discourse, Context and Media.
It also was used to ‘detract attention from their reckless personal behaviour leading up to their infections and the failures of their government to formulate coherent plans to control the pandemic’.
Boris Johnson (left) and Donald Trump (right) shared a message that defeating Covid was about ‘strength’ and ‘courage’ rather than ‘sensible public health measures’, a study found. Professor Rodney Jones (inset), a linguistics expert at Reading University, said both created narrative to ‘promote a masculinist discourse’
Professor Jones trawled through all the public statements, social media posts and interviews the leaders made about their experience getting infected, being treated and recovering.
The main differences in their communications was Mr Trump talked about his illness ‘much more’ than Mr Johnson, who seemed to be practising ‘social distancing’ with reporters and the public, he said.
In the month when Mr Johnson was unwell, he sent out 26 tweets, 16 of which were about Covid and eight about his own illness.
He also spoke publicly just once about his illness — at a Covid briefing on April 30 — and once in an interview with the Sun on Sunday.
Meanwhile, Mr Trump — a prolific tweeter at the time — sent out 1,424 tweets in the month around his illness, 83 of which were about Covid and 27 about being unwell.
He spoke about his illness at three campaign rallies and in three media interviews.
Professor Jones found that both leaders were sharing ‘essentially the same’ message that ‘defeating’ the virus was a matter of ‘strength’, ‘courage’ and innovation, rather than ‘sensible public health measures or evidence-based government policies’.
‘Masculinity was a central theme in the illness narratives of the two leaders, with each endeavouring to portray themselves as strong, resilient leaders whose illnesses made them even more qualified to lead,’ he said.
Mr Johnson said he got better due to the ‘courage’, ‘devotion’ and ‘love’ or ‘brilliant’ doctors, while Mr Trump credited ‘miraculous’ drugs and ‘amazing’ doctors.
The leaders referenced their strength, with the Prime Minister saying in an interview that his ‘terrible buoyancy’ helped him get better.
And the former US President said at a rally his ‘youth’ and ‘good health’ helped him pull through.
Framing disease in this ‘masculinist’ way can harm public health by implying that those who do no survive ‘lack fortitude’, Professor Jones said.
It also ignores the importance of adequately funding health services, he added.
The language the leaders used also impacts governance because it makes it difficult for them to hand over power to others when unwell, the study claimed.
Both leaders used ‘business as usual language’ when revealing their positive Covid tests that downplayed the importance of the announcement.
This included Mr Johnson using the phrase ‘I want to bring you up to speed’ in a video on Twitter revealing he had Covid and Mr Trump using direct language in his tweet.
Both leaders put on ‘regular displays’ of ‘working’ and remaining ‘in charge’, in line with traditional concepts of masculinity in which men’s social worth is defined by work’, Professor Jones said.
For example, after testing positive, Mr Johnson shared a video saying he was continuing to ‘lead the national fightback against coronavirus’ and tweeted a video of him chairing a Zoom meeting.
Meanwhile, Mr Trump and his ‘spokespeople’ shared videos showing him working throughout his illness, including a tweet saying ‘nothing can stop him working for the American people’.
They also used a narrative of ‘masculine swagger’ which was ‘counterproductive as a public health message’, Professor Jones said.
The Prime Minister did this by using understatement when speaking, such as saying he felt ‘pretty groggy’ or that he was not in ‘particularly brilliant shape’, he found.
Meanwhile, the former US President through over overstatement by emphasising his ‘perfect’ condition, the ‘miraculous’ drugs he took and describing the hospital as ‘incredible’ and ‘amazing’, Professor Jones added.
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