Rhetorical Strategies in the English-Language US Political Rhetoric Towards China (Based on the 2024 Election Debates and Media)

This article analyzes rhetorical strategies and evaluative vocabulary in English-language political rhetoric in the United States in relation to China in the context of the 2024 election campaign. The main focus is on the speeches of presidential candidates Donald Trump (Republican Party), Kamala Harris and Joe Biden (Democratic Party). The study reveals how the image of China as a geopolitical and economic competitor or an existential threat is constructed with the help of linguistic means, as well as how these strategies influence the formation of public opinion in the United States. Particular emphasis is placed on the linguistic and stylistic differences in the approaches to political debates of Republicans and Democrats, including the use of emotional-evaluative vocabulary, metaphors and other rhetorical devices. The work uses a multi-stage linguistic analysis, including a corpus study of vocabulary, an analysis of lexical and semantic expressive means and a comparison of the rhetorical strategies of the candidates. The study is based on the texts of 2024 election speeches and debates, both individual and within the framework of debates. The scientific novelty lies in the systematization of rhetorical strategies used by American politicians to construct the image of China and the identification of their connection with the ideological attitudes of the parties. The work analyzes specific speech techniques in detail: Republicans actively demonize China through military metaphors, categorical antitheses and hyperbolic accusations, which corresponds to their ideology of national protectionism and forms an image of an existential threat in the electorate. In contrast, Democrats use sports metaphors, neutral evaluative vocabulary and an emphasis on domestic priorities, which reflects their attitudes towards managed globalization and creates an image of China as a strategic competitor, not an enemy. Such language strategies, ranging from emotional confrontation to rational rivalry, directly affect political mobilization, forming fundamentally different models of perception of politics in the public consciousness. The work makes a significant contribution to the study of political discourse, demonstrating the mechanisms of transformation of ideological attitudes into effective tools of linguistic influence using specific examples. The obtained results are important for the analysis of political rhetoric in other countries facing similar challenges of global competition, and also allow us to predict the development of discursive strategies in future election campaigns.