Why can't our politicians speak English anymore?

We've heard run-on sentences, awkward pauses, and made-up words. No leader should speak this way.

Words didn't come easily at last night's debate.
(Image credit: Photo Illustration | Images courtesy JEWEL SAMAD/AFP/Getty Images, PAUL J. RICHARDS/AFP/Getty Images)

After Monday night's presidential debate, most pundits are focusing on who won, who lost, and what it all means for the future of the country. But the only thought that keeps asserting itself in my mind is this: These candidates are terrible at speaking English.

I mean that in the most literal sense possible: They're bad at formulating complete, grammatically correct sentences that effectively carry meaning. And this isn't just a petty complaint about "style" or "form" — it says something bigger about America, and this dumpster fire of an election we're in.

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Pascal-Emmanuel Gobry

Pascal-Emmanuel Gobry is a writer and fellow at the Ethics and Public Policy Center. His writing has appeared at Forbes, The Atlantic, First Things, Commentary Magazine, The Daily Beast, The Federalist, Quartz, and other places. He lives in Paris with his beloved wife and daughter.