Donald Trump and the ‘rise’ of scare ‘quotes’

The US president has made much use of quote marks to distance himself from his outlandish statements - is Steve Martin to 'blame' for this phenomenon?

Did Barack Obama wiretap Donald Trump's office, or merely "wiretap" them? On 4 March, Trump tweeted: "Just found out that Obama had my 'wires tapped' in Trump Tower." At a press briefing on Monday, those quotation marks formed the basis of a justification for the outlandish accusation. "The president used the word 'wiretap' in quotes," said Trump's press secretary, Sean Spicer, using his fingers to make the air-quote sign, "to mean broadly surveillance and other activities." The quotation marks, he said when pressed, meant the president was "referring to surveillance overall". So, not necessarily wiretapping then - handy should evidence fail to materialise in future. Or "evidence", as Trump might say.

It's a distancing tactic, says Philip Seargeant, senior lecturer in applied linguistics at the Open University. "It's part of a strategy Trump has of saying things he can deny later, and this is a perfect example. He also does this generally, saying something without committing to it by using 'You tell me' or 'I guess'."