Os discursos do trumpismo na rede social Truth Social: uma análise multidimensional lexical discursiva

• Ano de defesa: 2025
• Autor(a) principal: Lamberti, Renata Sant’Anna
• Orientador(a): Sardinha, Antonio Paulo Berber
• Tipo de documento: Tese
• Tipo de acesso: Acesso aberto
• Idioma: por
• Instituição de defesa: Pontifícia Universidade Católica de São Paulo
• Programa de Pós-Graduação: Programa de Pós-Graduação em Linguística Aplicada e Estudos da Linguagem
• Departamento: Faculdade de Filosofia, Comunicação, Letras e Artes
• País: Brasil
• Palavras-chave em Português: Linguística de corpus; Análise multidimensional lexical; Truth social; Trumpismo; Alt-right
• Palavras-chave em Inglês: Corpus linguistics; Multidimensional lexical analysis; Truth social; Trumpism; Alt-right
• Área do conhecimento CNPq: CNPQ::LINGUISTICA, LETRAS E ARTES::LINGUISTICA::LINGUISTICA APLICADA
• Link de acesso: https://repositorio.pucsp.br/jspui/handle/handle/45065

Based on Corpus Linguistics, with an emphasis on Lexical Multidimensional Analysis, this research investigated the discourses disseminated on and through Truth Social, a social media platform launched in 2022 by the technology branch of Donald Trump's business group. The study is grounded in the notion that discourse is a manifestation of power (Foucault, 2014) and considers social media as contemporary arenas of symbolic struggle for power. The central hypothesis of the research posits that Truth Social functions as a discursive environment marked by the circulation of ideologies associated with Trumpism, articulating different strands of right-wing politics — including traditional conservatism and the alternative right (alt-right). Compiled using the automated script Truthbrush, the corpus comprises 56,643 public posts from the platform, totaling 1,366,134 words in English. The methodology combines quantitative and qualitative procedures, with particular emphasis on Exploratory Factor Analysis applied to the corpus to identify underlying discursive dimensions. The analysis revealed three main dimensions: (1) Digital Mobilization in Defense of Truth vs. Patriotic Conservatism; (2) Mobilizing Ultranationalism and Electoral Revisionism vs. Interparty Dispute and Polarization within the Republican Party; (3) Libertarian Nationalism and Civic Conservatism vs. Critical Skepticism Toward Populist RightWing Politics. The dimensions showed significant discursive overlap, pointing to the consolidation of a distinct discursive ecology within the platform. Regarding the discursive formations that constitute the underlying dimensions, the analysis found that Truth Social posts promote the construction of a collective political identity marked by antagonisms such as “people vs. elites,” “us vs. them,” “truth vs. lies,” among other binary oppositions typical of populist regimes. The study also showed that the concept of free speech, widely mobilized by platform users, functions as a discursive operator used to legitimize exclusionary, racist, anti-scientific, and authoritarian content. It was observed that the language used on Truth Social contributes to the construction of a political ethos centered on the figure of Donald Trump, portrayed simultaneously as a savior leader, victim of persecution, and symbol of nationalist resistance. The study concluded that Truth Social is not merely a technological response to Trump’s ban from mainstream platforms, but a structured site of discursive production, highly ideologized, reinforcing and propagating worldviews associated with Trumpism and the alt-right. Despite its relatively limited audience, the platform exerts a strong symbolic impact on discursive radicalization and on the legitimization of narratives that strain democratic boundaries. This research contributes to critical discourse studies in digital contexts and enhances understanding of the role of alt-tech platforms in reshaping contemporary public debate