America has been witnessing the worst speeches in presidential history | Ted Widmer

In a 3 November opinion column published as Americans voted in the midterm elections, historian and former White House speechwriter Ted Widmer argued that Donald Trump’s recent campaign speeches were the worst in US presidential history. Widmer described a sustained run of rallies marked, in his view, by insults, profanity, repeated stories and claims of victory. His ranking is a judgement, rather than a measurable finding, and his suggestion that the speeches reveal declining faculties is an interpretation, not a medical assessment. The White House described Trump’s final campaign push as 30 events across 20 states in 32 days.

Widmer compared the rallies with speeches by earlier political figures and argued that their tone diminished the presidency’s ability to offer national leadership. A published transcript of Trump’s 20 October rally in North Carolina provides a record of one speech he discussed. The column was written before the election result was known, so its speculation about the political effect of Trump’s appearances and the balance of power in Washington remained untested at publication. The central issue it raises is how much weight voters place on a president’s language alongside his policy record and campaign activity.