NEW YORK, (APP/AFP) – When stumping for
the White House, the leading candidates in the US presidential race use words and grammar typical of children in middle school, with Donald Trump the worst offender, researchers say.
The Language Technologies Institute at Carnegie Mellon University in
Pittsburgh found that most candidates use words and grammar typical of pupils in grades six to eight — when children are typically aged 11 to 13.
Trump, his closest Republican rival Ted Cruz, Democratic frontrunner
Hillary Clinton and her left-wing challenger Bernie Sanders have deployed
simpler language as the campaign has gone on, the researchers found.
An analysis shows that Abraham Lincoln, widely considered one of
America’s great leaders — the Republican who abolished slavery — outclasses all the candidate and more recent presidents by displaying grammar at 11th grade level.
Campaign speeches by presidents Lincoln, Ronald Reagan, Bill Clinton,
Bush and Barack Obama showed vocabulary of at least eighth grade level, while the current candidates range from Trump’s seventh grade to Sanders’ 10th grade level.
International News
White House candidates talk like school kids: study
