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'Exceptional Me': Donald Trump And American Exceptionalism On Thursday's Access Utah

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Donald Trump has forged a unique relationship with American exceptionalism, parting ways with how American politicians have long communicated this idea to the American public.

In their new book, “Exceptional Me: How Donald Trump Exploited the Discourse of American Exceptionalism” Jason Gilmore from Utah State University and Charles Rowling from the University of Nebraska at Kearney detail the various ways that Trump strategically altered and exploited the discourse of American exceptionalism to elevate not the nation, but himself personally, professionally, and politically. They call this Trump's Exceptional Me Strategy and they document how it made Trump different from every president in modern American history.

Jason Gilmore is an Associate Professor of Global Communication at Utah State University. His research examines the strategic creation, dissemination, and effects of potent national and international ideas such as American exceptionalism, patriotism, and anti-Americanism. He has published extensively on the history of American exceptionalism in the American presidency.

Charles Rowling is an Associate Professor of Political Science at University of Nebraska at Kearney. His research primarily explores the relationship between officials, the press and the public in the context of US foreign policy, focusing on the role that national identity plays in shaping these interactions.

Tom Williams worked as a part-time UPR announcer for a few years and joined Utah Public Radio full-time in 1996. He is a proud graduate of Uintah High School in Vernal and Utah State University (B. A. in Liberal Arts and Master of Business Administration.) He grew up in a family that regularly discussed everything from opera to religion to politics. He is interested in just about everything and loves to engage people in conversation, so you could say he has found the perfect job as host “Access Utah.” He and his wife Becky, live in Logan.