Words used at the Democratic and Republican national conventions
From left to right: Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images;
J. Scott Applewhite/Associated Press
Speakers at the Democratic National Convention used more than 109,000 words over four days in Chicago this week. Their choice of words and phrases contrasts with the themes and ideas of last month’s Republican National Convention.
Leaving aside the everyday words, these were the most spoken words at the Democratic convention:
A similar number of words were spoken last month at the Republican convention in Milwaukee, with speakers using more than 110,000 words in four days. The most common were:
Words from notable speakers
Former President Donald J. Trump’s acceptance speech was longer, containing more than three times as many words, as Vice President Kamala Harris’ acceptance speech.
Circles indicate how often these speakers used the following words.
| Joseph R. Biden Jr. |
Tim Waltz |
Kamala Haris |
Words |
Donald J. Trump |
JD Vance |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
10 |
– |
2 |
Democracy |
2 |
– |
|
6 |
8 |
11 |
Freedom |
3 |
– |
|
7 |
1 |
3 |
Economy, economic |
13 |
4 |
|
2 |
1 |
5 |
Company |
2 |
6 |
|
15 |
4 |
2 |
Job(s) |
22 |
8 |
|
8 |
2 |
5 |
Taxes) |
21 |
1 |
|
4 |
– |
7 |
Law |
1 |
4 |
|
7 |
3 |
2 |
God |
9 |
5 |
|
13 |
5 |
9 |
Love |
22 |
14 |
|
1 |
– |
– |
Inflation |
14 |
1 |
|
2 |
8 |
1 |
Neighbor, neighborhood |
– |
– |
|
7 |
7 |
8 |
Family |
8 |
10 |
|
2 |
– |
5 |
Father |
4 |
1 |
|
2 |
– |
13 |
Mother |
4 |
1 |
|
1 |
1 |
4 |
Abortion |
– |
– |
|
4 |
1 |
2 |
Medicare |
4 |
– |
|
2 |
2 |
2 |
Social security |
4 |
1 |
|
23 |
4 |
15 |
Trump |
8 |
16 |
|
2 |
1 |
3 |
Biden |
2 |
12 |
|
10 |
9 |
2 |
Kamala |
– |
2 |
|
3 |
10 |
3 |
Haris |
– |
2 |
|
5 |
– |
7 |
Border |
21 |
2 |
|
2 |
– |
2 |
Immigrant, immigration |
5 |
1 |
|
– |
– |
– |
Invasion |
13 |
1 |
|
– |
– |
– |
Illegal aliens |
4 |
1 |
|
6 |
1 |
2 |
War |
17 |
3 |
|
1 |
– |
2 |
Ukraine |
4 |
– |
|
2 |
– |
3 |
Russia |
9 |
– |
|
2 |
– |
2 |
Putin |
– |
– |
|
1 |
– |
1 |
China, Chinese |
14 |
5 |
|
– |
– |
4 |
Israel |
4 |
– |
|
3 |
– |
3 |
Gaza |
– |
– |
|
– |
– |
1 |
Hamas |
– |
– |
|
– |
– |
2 |
Terrorist |
1 |
– |
|
– |
– |
2 |
Iran |
8 |
– |
|
– |
– |
– |
Afghanistan |
4 |
1 |
Photos by Mandel Ngan/AFP (Biden); Will Oliver/EPA, via Shutterstock (Walz); J. Scott Applewhite/Associated Press (Harris) and Kenny Holston/The New York Times
Divided words
At both congresses many words were spoken, including:America“country“people” And “to voteBut the frequency of other words was less balanced.
Speakers at the Democratic convention focused on words of freedom and patriotism, speaking of:freedom” 227 times compared to 67 times at the Republican convention. Words like “woman“joy” And “foreign“were also used more often by Democratic speakers.
Republican speakers called “inflation“seven times as likely as Democrats, and both”God” and the price of “groceries” three times as often. Republicans used the word “murder” or “murderer” 18 times, but the word was heard only once at the Democratic convention, and it was not a reference to the sniper attack on Mr. Trump in July.
Missing words
Some words and phrases that appear in Democratic convention transcripts, but not at all in Republican transcripts, include:abortion“Project2025” And “convicted criminal.”
In contrast, there are some words from the Republican convention that were not heard in Chicago this week, including:indoctrination“illegal aliens” And “invasion.”
