A Comparative Analysis of Illocutionary Acts in the Victory Speeches of Joe Biden (2020) and Donald Trump (2024)

Abstract

This research examines the use of illocutionary acts in Joe Biden's 2020 and Donald Trump's 2024 victory speeches. The purpose of this study is to identify the types and functions of illocutionary speech acts in the two speeches, as well as to find similarities and differences in the linguistic strategies used. The analysis is conducted using John Searle's theory of five types of speech acts, namely assertive, directive, commissive, expressive, and declaration, as well as Geoffrey Leech's theory of speech act functions, namely convivial, competitive, collaborative, and conflictive. This research uses descriptive qualitative method with data in the form of official transcripts of the speeches of both figures taken from online media. The results show that Biden mostly uses assertive acts (39%), while Trump dominantly uses commissive acts (38%). Both of them use convivial functions that show efforts to build social relationships with the audience and also collaborative functions. Biden uses it more to convey a shared vision, while Trump uses it to emphasize his political achievements. This finding shows that illocutionary acts reflect the character and communication strategies of each figure in the context of political speeches.