A
Sample of Trump’s Fallacies:
Non
Sequitur:
Trump’s assertions or conclusions are not necessitated by any premise(s). Most of the time,
there are no logical premises for an argument. Consider: “Excuse me. I will bring back jobs. You [Hillary
Clinton] can’t bring back jobs… Well, I’m really calling for major jobs because
the wealthy are going to create tremendous jobs… I have a great company. I have
tremendous income, and the reason I say it is not a braggadocios way. It’s
because it is about time that this country had somebody running it that has an
idea about money… I think my strongest asset, maybe by far, is my temperament.
I have a winning temperament” (First presidential debate, Sept. 26).
Name
Calling:
Trump often uses name calling to stigmatize his opponents’ points of view. “He
has attacked every Republican candidate, including Hillary Clinton. He has
called Clinton a ‘bigot’; he has attacked her as ‘brainwashed,’ ‘unhinged,’ ‘a monster,’ ‘the devil” (Olbermann).
However, “nice” whiny Trump said at the end of
the first presidential debate: “I was going to say something extremely rough to
Hillary, to her family, and I said to myself I can’t do it. I just can’t do it.
It’s inappropriate; it’s not nice… But it’s certainly not a nice thing that she’s
done. It’s hundreds of millions of ads, and the only gratifying thing is I saw
the polls come in today and with all of that money, over two hundred million spent
and I’m either winning or tied.”
Slogans: Trump’s short,
catchy phrases are intended for general consumption and designed to terminate
thought and promote action in favor of himself. “Make America Great Again” is meaningless. His favorite qualifiers “To
be honest with you” and “believe me” are signals for dishonesty.
Fallacy
Ad Hominem:
Instead of addressing important issues, Trump will choose to attack a person’s character or
physical attributes. We all remember when Trump ridiculed a disabled reporter.
Fallacy
of Racism:
Trump has repeatedly revealed false prejudices against a genetic class or
ethnic group of human beings. He “attacked Judge Gonzalo Curiel because he was of
Mexican descent; he attacked Mexicans by calling them rapists who bring drugs and
crime to America; he has proposed a wall along the Mexican border to keep out
undocumented immigrants; he has proposed banning Muslims from entering this country as well…” (Olbermann).
Fallacy
of Prejudice:
Trump's unwillingness to examine fairly any evidence and reasoning in behalf of
a person or idea which is the object of his bias reveals his bigotry. (See examples from Fallacy of
Racism).
Fallacy
of Composition:
Trump reasons improperly from a member of a group to a property of the group
itself. (See also examples from Fallacy of Racism)
Fallacy
of Argument (ad nauseam): Trump’s claims are sustained by repetition, usually
platitudes, rather than by reasoned proof of argument. “Make America Great
Again…”
Fallacy
of Argument (ad antiquitam): Trump uses irrelevant, out-of-context
appeals to a time past in order to justify a supposed better future without
proof of argument. “I’m going to make America great again.”
Fallacy
of Concurrency:
Because some things exist or appear simultaneously, Trump claims that one is
the cause of the other. He believes President Obama and Hillary Clinton created
ISIS. He also said, “Our country is suffering because people like Secretary
Clinton have made such bad decisions in terms of our jobs and in terms of what
is going on…” (First presidential debate, Sept. 26).
Trump’s
Appeal to Hatred (ad odium): He has “attacked Gold Star parents, Khizr and Ghazala Khan, and then juxtaposed their names with the phrase
‘Radical Islamic Terrorism’; he has ‘offered to pay the legal fees of any supporter who becomes
physically violent against a heckler; he has encouraged crowd members to harass
and threaten a reporter, who he called out by name and
who then needed Secret Service protection; he has proposed ‘ideological certification’ for immigrants;
he has proposed worse than waterboarding while praising how
Saddam Hussein, Vladimir Putin, and Kim Jong-un handled protest and terrorism;
he has proposed that American civilians be tried by military commissions at Gitmo; he has proposed killing the families of terrorists or suspected
terrorists…” (Olbermann).
Trump’s
Appeal to Fear (ad metum): He has proposed a wall along the Mexican border to keep out
undocumented immigrants; he has said “we are a nation that is seriously
troubled… [The Chinese] are taking our jobs… [Our] companies are leaving [our
country]… I mean there are thousands of them… Our energy policies are a
disaster…” (First presidential debate, Sept. 26).
Trump’s
Appeal to Ridicule:
He attempts to influence people to accept or reject a person or issue by poking
fun at those who oppose the proposition. (We all remember the so-called Republican
debates).
Argument
by Innuendo:
Trump uses derogatory suggestions; when arguing he also uses suggestions in
place of evidence. He “attacked Megyn Kelly for having ‘blood coming out of
her wherever’” (Olbermann).
Causal
Oversimplification:
Trump reasons improperly complex events through references to only one or two
probable causes; whereas, many are responsible. In this case, and without
stating any of the causes of the problems, he has claimed he will “fix the problems of African-Americans” (Olbermann).
Strawman
Fallacy:
Trump restates his opponent’s argument falsely and then exaggerates the
consequences that may follow from his vulgarization. (the so-called Republican
debates).
Tabloid
Thinking:
To think in tabloids is to over simplify a complex theory or set of
circumstances. Trump prefers quick, short summaries. “The wealthy are going to
do great things”; “it’s going to be a beautiful thing to watch…” and “We have a Fed
that is doing political things. This Janet Yellen of the Fed is doing political
by keeping interest rates at this level” (First presidential debate, Sept. 26).
Reductive
Fallacy:
Trump reduces complexity to simplicity while speaking about causal
explanations. Trump stated: “Had we taken the oil [in Iraq], and we should have
taken the oil, ISIS would not have been able to form…” By the way, this would also be illegal under international law. (First presidential
debate, Sept. 26).
Selected
Instances:
Support is drawn for his positions by choosing only those cases or instances
which back them up and disregarding those cases or instances which either
contradict or do not support his positions. This is Trump's modus operandi.
Red
Herring Fallacy:
Trump often uses irrelevant points to divert attention from the main issues. Trump
said to Clinton: “No wonder you’ve been fighting ISIS your entire adult life.”
(Yes, most of us know ISIS formed in 2013) (First presidential
debate, Sept. 26).
Begging the Question: Trump assumes as true what has yet to be proved. That applies to just about everything he says!
-Glen Brown
Many
of the above examples for Trump’s fallacies are from 176 Reasons Why Trump
Shouldn’t Become President by Keith Olbermann; others were gleaned from the first
presidential debate.
