Europe Abhors Donald Trump: The Opinion on the 2020 U.S. Presidential Elections and Their Candidates in the European Newspapers

Abstract

What is the opinion held by the European press on the U.S. election campaign and the candidates running for president? What are the predominant issues that attract the attention of European print media? Does Europe detest Donald Trump? The objective of the present study is to analyze the perception European commentators had of the 2020 race for the White House. The media, the audience, and European governments were captivated more than ever before by how the U.S. election campaign unfolded, fixing their gaze on the contest between Donald Trump and Joe Biden. Through a combined quantitative and qualitative methodology, a combination of content analysis and the application of framing theory (hitherto scarcely applied to opinion pieces), our research centers on exploring the views, opinions, and analyses published in eight leading newspapers from four European countries (France, Germany, Spain, and the United Kingdom) as expressed in their editorials and opinion articles. This study observes how the televised presidential debates were commented on, interpreted, and assessed by commentators from the eight newspapers we selected. The goal was to identify the common issues and frames that affected European public opinion on the U.S. presidential campaign and the aspirants to the White House.

El Método Histórico Discursivo como herramienta para el estudio la prensa

“…Los comentaristas europeos asociaron a Donald Trump con el daño a las instituciones y el desprestigio del gobierno, mientras que Joe Biden se referenció desde atributos como la prudencia, la moderación y el sentido de la responsabilidad. En contraste con Trump, el tono educado de Biden lo calificó como un candidato competente con experiencia política (Sintes-Olivella et al, 2021). Por otra parte, un análisis de contenido de más de 4.000 artículos dio a conocer que en España la prensa no cuenta con el poder suficiente para desalentar las prácticas de corrupción.…”

Political polarization and emotion rhetoric in the US presidential transition: A comparative study of Trump and Biden on Twitter and the post-election impact on the public

“…Biden rarely occupies a central place in the European press, where he stands out for his honesty, competence, political experience, and unwavering defense of unity and concord among his fellow citizens. His respectful and well-mannered approach to interacting with others has earned him an undeserved reputation for being weak and unassertive, which is often attributed to his advanced age (Sintes-Olivella et al, 2021).…”

Rethinking the use of data: Media’s attempts to move away from clickbait and towards audience engagement

“…Los datos primarios proceden de 28 entrevistas en profundidad con profesionales en activo de 11 medios de comunicación generalistas de cinco países europeos: España, Francia, Italia, Alemania y Reino Unido. La selección de medios se basa en que son periódicos influyentes y reconocidos históricamente, que se encuentran alineados por el tipo de contenido que publican, y en que están entre los medios con mayor número de lectores y de difusión en sus respectivos países (ACPM, 2022;AIMC, 2022;Axel Springer, 2022;Ofcom, 2022;Prima Online, 2022;Sintes-Olivella et al, 2022). Las entrevistas semiestructuradas se realizaron entre mayo y septiembre de 2022.…”