Statement for the Record Submitted to:
Select Committee to Investigate the January 6th Attack on the United States Capitol, U. S. House of Representatives, March 31, 2022.
Chairperson: Vice-Chairperson: Members:
The Honorable Bennie Thompson. The Honorable Liz Cheney. The Honorable Zoe Lofgren, The Honorable Elaine Luria, The Honorable Adam Schiff, The Honorable Pete Aguilar, The Honorable Stephanie Murphy, The Honorable Jamie Raskin, and The Honorable Adam Kinzinger.
Submitted by:
Dr. Jennifer Mercieca, Professor, Department of Communication, Texas A&M University.
Brief Biography: Dr. Jennifer Mercieca is an award-winning Professor in the Department of Communication at Texas A&M University. She is an expert in American political discourse, especially as it relates to citizenship, democracy, propaganda, and the presidency. Jennifer has published three books: Founding Fictions, The Rhetoric of Heroic Expectations: Establishing the Obama Presidency, and Demagogue for President: The Rhetorical Genius of Donald Trump. Her academic scholarship has been published in The Quarterly Journal of Speech, Presidential Studies Quarterly, Rhetoric & Public Affairs, Argumentation & Advocacy, and Rhetoric Society Quarterly. She is a member of the Editorial Boards for The Quarterly Journal of Speech, Rhetoric Society Quarterly, Southern Communication Journal, Rhetoric & Public Affairs, and the Texas A&M University Press. She is a Contributing Editor for Zócalo, the Public Square. She has written public scholarship and been interviewed about rhetoric and politics for media outlets throughout the United States and Worldwide. In 2020 she authored Demagogue for President: The Rhetorical Genius of Donald Trump. It was reviewed in the Washington Post, which said, “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.” The Association of American Publishers awarded Demagogue for President a 2021 PROSE Award for Excellence in Social Sciences: Government & Politics. The book is also a Foreword Indies Winner, earning a Bronze medal in the category of Political & Social Sciences. She is a 2016 recipient of the Texas A&M Association of Former Students Distinguished Achievement Award in Teaching, the highest student award given to faculty for teaching at Texas A&M University.
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