In every sense of the word, Richard III is a tyrant. In class, we discussed how a leader had to either illegally seize power or abuse their power for personal benefit to be considered a tyrant, and Richard does both. We also determined that a tyrant knows that they are a tyrant. In the movie, there is a scene where Richard wakes up in the middle of the night, drenched in sweat, and proclaims that he is a villain. In her paper, Bezio compares Richard to United States President Donald Trump. While Trump is often called a tyrant in the media, I believe that giving him this title is a bit of a reach based on these three criteria. Although there is some controversy as to whether Trump was involved in collusion to win the office, I think it is fair to say that Trump did not illegally usurp power. In his interviews from the 80s and 90s, his tone makes it seem like he genuinely believed he would make a good president, not for pride or to boost his ego, but because he thought he saw ways to make America profitable. Finally, we will never know for sure whether or not he sees himself as a tyrant; I have a feeling that even he did, he would not be very forthcoming about it, especially ahead of another election.<\/p>\n
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While I do not believe Trump is a tyrant, I do believe that he has some tyrannical tendencies. One could make the argument that it is a politicians job to influence the public, but I think that Trump\u2019s mudslinging strategies against his challengers reaches into the manipulation category. During his campaign, Trump exemplified the idea that \u201call press is good press.\u201d To his credit, his strategy worked. His outlandish accusations against his opposition, sexually and racially charged comments, and his celebrity status were enough to get the attention of voters, and his idealistic promises were enough to get many of those voters to support him. One behavior is not enough to earn a label like tyrant, but it is hard to deny that Trump possess traits that one might describe as tyrannical.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
In every sense of the word, Richard III is a tyrant. In class, we discussed how a leader had to either illegally seize power or…<\/p>\n