Bret Stephens

In place of presidential addresses, stump speeches, or town halls, we have Trump's demagogic mass rallies. In place of the usual jousting between the administration and the press, we have a president who fantasizes on Twitter about physically assaulting CNN.

American Journalist

William Julius Wilson

I maintain that the period during the first half of the 1990s, the period in which rising inequality reached its peak, was a period in which we came very, very close to a demagogic immobilization of racism in this society.

American Sociologist

Murray Rothbard

In the market, the fittest are those most able to serve the consumers; in government, the fittest are those most adept at wielding coercion and/or those most adroit at making demagogic appeals to the voting public.

American Economist

Zbigniew Brzezinski

Fear obscures reason, intensifies emotions, and makes it easier for demagogic politicians to mobilize the public on behalf of the policies they want to pursue.

American Politician

Ben Fountain

In true demagogic fashion, Trump bypassed the head and spoke directly to the gut, to the biles and bubbling acids of raw emotion.

American Writer

Joseph Pulitzer

A cynical, mercenary, demagogic press will in time produce a people as base as itself.

American Publisher

Demagogic has a negative tone, suggesting manipulation or deceit.

Negative Connotation

Often used for leaders exploiting popular desires and prejudices rather than using rational argument.

Power and Populism

Demagogic speaks to emotion, bypassing logical thinking and reason.