On Rhetorical Paramnesia

January 6th Denialism and the 2024 U.S. Presidential Election

Bibliographic Data

ID8220859
AuthorsRyan Neville-Shepard (0000-0002-7110-9797, University of Arkansas Fayetteville, USA, corresponding author)
Year2025
Publication date2025-12-28
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueAmerican Behavioral Scientist (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 0002-7642 • E-ISSN: 1552-3381
PublisherSAGE Publications (PUBLISHER • US)
DOI10.1177/00027642251405621
OpenAlexW7117447223
LanguageEN
References cited18

Extending previous studies tracking how Donald Trump’s political conspiracy theories have evolved over time, this essay focuses on his January 6th denialism during the 2024 U.S. presidential campaign as a significant turning point. Quite different from the various fragmented conspiracy theories he had previously spread to delegitimize institutions and undermine democratic communication, I suggest that his January 6th denialism functioned as a kind of rhetorical paramnesia, or the introduction of false public memory as a resource for evading accountability. In addition to exploring how rhetorical paramnesia expands our knowledge of denialism, this study analyzes Trump’s rhetoric throughout the 2024 campaign to show how he went from distancing himself from the insurrectionists, to rejecting basic facts, to reframing the violence as patriotic love, all while winning converts to a narrative they likely knew was false

Cognitive reframing · Democracy · Narrative · Politics · Presidential system · Rhetoric · Rhetorical question · Misinformation and Its Impacts · Populism, Right-Wing Movements · Rhetoric and Communication Studies

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