The politics of nasty

Persuasive communication means first understanding the thoughts of others. The idea is to turn opponents into friends.

Speaking of obnoxious rudeness, U.S. President Donald Trump is, without a doubt, the grandmaster of disrespectful invective, writes Gerry Nicholls. When The New York Times published a mere sampling of his Twitter insults, it took up two full pages.Photograph courtesy of Gage Skidmore

Opinion

BY GERRY NICHOLLS

May 8, 2017

OAKVILLE, ONT.—"I will not make age an issue of this campaign. I am not going to exploit, for political purposes, my opponent's youth and inexperience." That, for those of you not up on your political history, was Ronald Reagan’s famous response when asked during the 1984 presidential debate if...

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