Trump's Logical Fallacies

The King of Logical Fallacies

Multiple Choice

Who is this man?

• Donald Trump

• Joe Biden

• King Edward

• King Trump

What are Logical Fallacies?

• Donald Trump is an expert at making people’s heads spin by employing several well-known logical fallacies. Because of him, debate with the other side of the aisle is near impossible. 

• Logical fallacies are missteps in reasoning, either intentionally or unintentionally, to win an argument.

• On the surface, they appear logically sound, but under scrutiny they don’t hold up.

Strawman Fallacy

• someone distorts their opponent’s argument, making it seem weak so it can be easily destroyed

• EXAMPLE: People who don't support the proposed state minimum wage increase hate the poor.

Hasty Generalization

• conclusion based on insufficient or biased evidence. In other words, you are rushing to a conclusion before you have all the relevant facts

• EXAMPLE: Even though it's only the first day, I can tell this is going to be a boring course.

Slippery Slope Fallacy

• a person claims one harmless event will lead to another and another, ending in something horrible

• EXAMPLE: If we ban Hummers because they are bad for the environment eventually the government will ban all cars, so we should not ban Hummers.

Ad Hominem Fallacy

• attacking the person instead of the argument

• Latin for “against the man”

• EXAMPLE: Green Peace's strategies aren't effective because they are all dirty, lazy hippies.

Red Herring Fallacy

• your opponent distracts from the topic at hand to something seemingly related

• EXAMPLE: The level of mercury in seafood may be unsafe, but what will fishers do to support their families?

Argument from Authority

• assuming a point is true because of the power of the person that said it

• EXAMPLE: A commercial claims that a specific brand of cereal is the best way to start the day because athlete Michael Jordan says that it is what he eats every day for breakfast.

Bandwagon Fallacy

• appealing to people’s natural need to be part of a group

• EXAMPLE: If you were a true American you would support the rights of people to choose whatever vehicle they want.

False Dichotomy

• framing the argument in a way to make it seem as if there are only two sides to choose from

• EXAMPLE: We can either stop using cars or destroy the earth.

Playing the Victim

• making your side of the argument seem more credible by claiming the other side has a bias against you

• EXAMPLE: a person who has done poorly in a class because of a lack of effort might tell his parents that “the professor has this thing against men.”

Let's Practice

Choose the correct Logical Fallacy

Multiple Choice

“In addition to winning the Electoral College in a landslide, I won the popular vote if you deduct the millions of people who voted illegally.”

He offered no evidence of this claim, despite creating a task force to uncover all of the Democrat’s alleged deceptions. He expects people to just accept his assertion because he is the president.

• Bandwagon Fallacy

• Argument from Authority

Multiple Choice

“When the media – driven insane by their Trump Derangement Syndrome – reveals internal deliberations of our government, it truly puts the lives of many, not just journalists, at risk! Very unpatriotic!”

In other words, he is saying that people who disagree with him are not part of the group of patriots.

• Bandwagon Fallacy

• Red Herring Fallacy

Multiple Choice

“The press is doing everything within their power to fight the magnificence of the phrase, MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN! They can’t stand the fact that this Administration has done more than virtually any other Administration in its first 2yrs. They are truly the ENEMY OF THE PEOPLE!”

• Bandwagon

• Playing the Victim

• False Equivalence

Multiple Choice

“The Democrats would, I believe, I think they would give up the Second Amendment, and the people that, a lot of the people that put me where I am are strong believers in the Second Amendment, and I am also. And we have to be very careful about that, you know. And all of a sudden everything is taken away, we’re not going to let that happen.”

• Slippery Slope Fallacy

• Ad Hominem Fallacy

Multiple Choice

Trump gives people disparaging nicknames, in an attempt to make himself look better.

For example, he nicknamed Hillary Clinton “Crooked Hillary” during the 2016 election.

• Slippery Slope Fallacy

• Ad Hominem Fallacy

Poll

Trump uses logical fallacies. Do you think this make him good at persuasion?

• yes

• no