Beware the Demagogue with Oratory Skills

BEWARE THE DEMAGOGUE WITH ORATORY SKILLS!

By

LEE KESSLER

Listening to Adbul El-Sayed in his victory speech following his winning the Michigan Democrat Party primary for US Senate caused me great alarm. I am going to sound those alarm bells now, and likely will repeatedly do so until a very menacing phenomenon is defeated.

Having taken a degree in Speech and Communication and having been both a debate and oratory champion, I made some study of the great orators in our history, and later: what enabled them to arouse the audience, then energize the audience to such a degree that they rose up and brought into reality what the orator was exhorting them to do. Great oratory skills can accomplish much good. But oratory skills in the hands of a demagogue become a threat.

First, let me define for you what a demagogue is, because there are many of them operating in American politics today—especially in the Democrat party. Websters defines Demagogue as a person who appeals to the emotions and prejudices of people in order to arouse discontent and advance personal political ends. Oratory is the art of speaking in public effectively.

Many people write well and speak clearly and logically in public. They get their point across and have passable oratory skills therefore. But when those skills are combined with the demagogue’s use of emotion and prejudice, rationality tends to evaporate or gets stampeded by the rush of the mob as they allow the demagogue’s goals to now become their rallying cry, or worse yet, their war cry.

This is the stuff that revolutions are made of. This is the stuff that wars start over. This is the stuff that leads to lynching. This is the stuff that leads to genocide. And at the very least leads to the surrender of reason to a mob mentality.

And there are several in the US today that are making their moves. It began first with AOC and her squad. But, they are not true demagogues. Ideologues for sure. Brazen for sure, and arrogant beyond belief. But, even now, even with the coaching of Bernie Sanders, she lacks the oratory skills to carry her demagogic ideas to the top.

However, a new and even more dangerous politician has entered into the arena, full throttle: the demagogue with oratory skills. Mandani is an example of a demagogue for sure. He relies totally on your emotional response to bigoted and fear-driven accusations about whole groups of people. Initially, he had enough charm and charisma to win just on those ideas. His oratory skills were mediocre. But in the last year he has been honing those skills. When he is not doing some smug stunt for the camera that demonstrates his malice and immaturity, he has learned how to give speeches with soaring emotion that cause a crowd to not just clap and shout in agreement, but energizes them into what could turn into a mob in a heartbeat. He clearly has his finger on the “oratory trigger” and he is learning how to use it.

Just test yourself out when he speaks next. The orator uses cadence, rhythm, fluctuation in tone and pitch, and ever-soaring vocals and emotions to capture and drag the audience into a frenzy. Once given their marching orders, directly or indirectly, they charge out on their own. Mamdani is learning how to do that.

Before my lifetime, Adolf Hitler was an exquisite example of the demagogue with oratory skills. Judging just by his appearance and stature, no one would have guessed that he would so arouse and mobilize a people that they themselves would end up murdering or condoning the murdering of 6 million Jews. That they would engage in a world war to show their agreement with the rantings of the man. But, when you listen to his speeches, you will see him start slow, quieter, then increase the tempo, get louder, and add in emotion and direct that emotion against a target.

Gen Z, you may say, “yeah, well that’s ancient history.” True, but here is the one man I am most concerned about now. Every Democrat, every Independent, every Republican, and every barely-interested citizen needs to pay attention now. For one man is becoming the face of a movement that could end our freedom and our very form of government.

That man is Abdul El-Sayed. He speaks clearly at first, rationally at first, almost kindly and conciliatorily at first—as if he is about to appeal to your reason in order to unite you. Then gradually—after he has appealed enough to your own goodness and sense of fair play, and after he feels he has you in his grasp—he picks up the tempo, the volume, inserts emotion and soars into an emotional range that is guaranteed to rouse you. And then, he lets loose with the agenda, the true goals, and the true animus.

Just watch him. Do not take him lightly. For he is the beginning of a new breed of politician in America. Let me ask you something. Have you ever listened to music that aroused your emotions, and you could almost feel it swell within you? You and the music were in sync, and as it rose and peaked, so did you? Of course you have. Rachmaninoff used to do that for me. Sometimes Aaron Copeland. The music takes you to new heights emotionally.

Well, imagine a man with his words and his delivery of those words being able to stimulate your emotional response—particularly emotions of fear, hatred, envy, and anger—and then being able to pick up the pitch, the speed, and the power so that now your own emotional response is in complete resonance with his. Your reason has been superseded by your emotions.

That is exactly what I witnessed El-Sayed do in his acceptance speech. Granted, he was talking to his supporters, and for sure wanted to arouse them sufficiently so they would remain loyal, remain enthusiastic, and remain engaged as his foot soldiers during the campaign against his Republican opponent. It is his underlying motive I am challenging and warning you about.

And more importantly, I want to alert you to the smooth-talking, rational-sounding, smart-talking demagogues that are emerging in our political arena. For they may not have started with oratory skills, but they are developing them. Perhaps someone is even coaching them on how to turn an otherwise rational audience into putty, and then exhort that putty to do some deeds.

Mamdani is developing those skills. El-Sayed already possesses them. And they are capable of destroying our very form of government by getting we the people to dismantle it ourselves—in favor of what turns into the blind obedience to those who use Jeffersonian rhetoric to create a communist state.

Freedom is in the balance. Beware the demagogue with oratory skills.

Copyright 2026 by The Clear View with Lee Kessler

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