: Click or tap on any technique - the definition will be displayed here. that appears in bold to show its definition.
: glittering generalities - vague words or phrases used to evoke positive emotional appeal, without presenting supporting information or reason. : About healthcare being "a human right," when it's far from clear that healthcare can even be defined in those terms.[1]
: misleading claim - a statement with a few elements or kernel of truth, which can easily be proven deceptive or fundamentally untrue. : Those same 160 million people losing insurance would have the option to get it through a government plan.[2]
: ad hominem - attacking the character or motive of your opponent, while not refuting his facts or logic. : Warren attacks Bloomberg's character, while not addressing any policy, position, or idea, he is putting forward.
: guilt by association - using an opponent's links to another to assign the other's beliefs, misdeeds, or other unattractive qualities to the opponent. : Warren uses Bloomberg's financial status and past conduct to link him to Donald Trump.
: half truth - a statement that is essentially true, but lacking critical information and presented as the whole truth. : Klobuchar mentions getting the highest voter turnout of any state in the country, without mentioning Minnesota typically has the highest voter turnout in the country, even when she's not on the ticket.[3]
: exaggeration - stretching the truth, to make something seem more powerful or meaningful than it actually is. : Of the 5.08 million total stop-and-frisks under Bloomberg, about half (2.6 million) were of blacks, and far less were of young black men.[4]
: labeling - pigeon-holing a person or group into a simple category and assigning names and/or beliefs to that category. : Buttigieg labels Sanders as a capitalist-hating socialist and Bloomberg as an elitist billionaire.
: innuendo - implying something without actually saying it, which can't be refuted because it wasn't actually said. : Buttigieg implies Sanders and Bloomberg aren't Democrats, without actually naming them.
: slogan - a brief, striking phrase that people will remember, which typically acts on emotional appeals. : Sanders wants to "burn the party down, while Bloomberg wants to "buy the party out."
: exaggeration - stretching the truth, to make something seem more powerful or meaningful than it actually is. : Over the last 45 years the average worker is making about 11% more, when adjusting for inflation.[5]
: misleading claim - a statement with a few elements or kernel of truth, which can easily be proven deceptive or fundamentally untrue. : In 2008, Bloomberg said the financial crisis grew out of political pressure to make loans to those who were poor credit risks, never once mentioning any race or ethnic group.[6]
: baseless claim - a statement that is presented as accepted or established fact, but is wholly undecided or unsubstantiated. : Sanders declares that 99.9% of the 10.6 million on Twitter are decent, working people who believe in justice, compassion, and love.
: whataboutism - discrediting a criticism by accusing hypocrisy, in order to shift the focus away from oneself and onto others. : Sanders shifts the focus from the attacks of his followers to the attacks of others against those in his campaign.
: exaggeration - stretching the truth, to make something seem more powerful or meaningful than it actually is. : The U.S. spends more, but not twice as much [6], the 87 million is more like 68 million [6], 60,000 dying each year from not seeing a doctor on time is based on weak math [5], and 500,000 people are not going bankrupt due solely to health care costs.[7]
: baseless claim - a statement that is presented as accepted or established fact, but is wholly undecided or unsubstantiated. : Warren claims Buttigieg's health care plan was a slogan thought up by his consultants, with no evidence that it was.
: going negative - characterizing criticism from an opponent as being underhanded, unfair, or indecent in some way.
: exaggeration - stretching the truth, to make something seem more powerful or meaningful than it actually is. : There are five (5) paragraphs on Klobuchar's website that outline her health care proposals.[4]
: post hoc - proclaiming that because something occurred after X, it was caused by X, when no causal relationship may exist at all. : Crediting stop-and-frisk for a decline in the murder rate, when it had already been declining years before stop-and-frisk was implemented.[8]
: misleading claim - a statement with a few elements or kernel of truth, which can easily be proven deceptive or fundamentally untrue. : Obama's moderators came in a year and a half after Bloomberg had already taken action to reduce stop-and-frisk, and had already achieved a 71% decline.[6]
: whataboutism - discrediting a criticism by accusing hypocrisy, in order to shift the focus away from oneself and onto others. : Bloomberg tries to shift the focus from his missteps on criminal justice to his opponents' supposed missteps on criminal justice.
: cherry picking - presenting only evidence that confirms your position, while ignoring or withholding a more significant portion that contradicts it. : Sanders points out what he has released, which is 3 letters from doctors saying he's in good health, while ignoring what he hasn't released, which is his full medical records.[9]
: misleading claim - a statement with a few elements or kernel of truth, which can easily be proven deceptive or fundamentally untrue. : Bloomberg has never publicly released his tax returns, during his 12-year tenure as mayor. What he has done is allow reporters to review redacted versions of them.[4]
: red herring - throwing one irrelevant fact into an argument to divert attention from the real issue at hand. : Bloomberg suggests that his hiring of women and paying them fairly proves that any allegations of sexual misconduct by him against women must be unfounded.
: pointed question - a question that is difficult to answer in an ambiguous manner without appearing to be evading or dodging.
: adding qualifiers - adding an extra word or phrase to a response, which makes it ultimately meaningless, but still leaves the desired impression. : Biden pledges that polluting companies should "be able to" be sued and held personally accountable, which is not saying they should be sued and held personally accountable.
: false claim - a statement that is directly contradicted by fact and can be easily proven untrue. : The Chinese haven't slowed down, but increased emissions of greenhouse gases every year since 2017, and remain the world's largest emitter.[10]
: false claim - a statement that is directly contradicted by fact and can be easily proven untrue. : If elected, Biden would raise the corporate rate from its current level of 21% to 28%, which would include small businesses.[10]
: saber-rattling - making nonspecific threats of consequences to intimidate an adversary and/or impress an audience. : Biden warns that, if China doesn't start burning less coal, the whole world will impose tariffs on everything China is selling.
: false claim - a statement that is directly contradicted by fact and can be easily proven untrue. : If elected, Buttigieg would raise the corporate rate, which includes small businesses, from its current level of 21% to 35%.[10]
: guilt by association - using an opponent's links to another to assign the other's beliefs, misdeeds, or other unattractive qualities to the opponent. : Sanders uses Bloomberg's billionaire status to link him to those who use their wealth to corrupt the political system.
: straw man - misrepresenting an opponent's position or argument to make it easier to attack, usually by exaggerating, distorting, or just completely fabricating it. : While Sanders is supporting a policy to increase employee ownership in corporations, he's not advocating for communism or an end to capitalism.
: exaggeration - stretching the truth, to make something seem more powerful or meaningful than it actually is. : Warren's estimate of how much could be raised with a wealth tax is considered by many economists to be overoptimistic, with some claiming it would raise only about 40% of what she estimates.[11]
: baseless claim - a statement that is presented as accepted or established fact, but is wholly undecided or unsubstantiated. : Warren alleges Buttigieg has changed his positions to appease his donors, while providing no evidence that he has.
: common folk - establishing a connection with an audience based on being just like one of them and therefore being able to empathize with their concerns.
: out of context - removing a passage or quote from its surrounding context in such a way as to distort its intended meaning. : Biden actually said "Mitch, we want to see you come back," while he was in the midst of negotiating a budget deal with him before the 2014 midterms.[11]
Cumulative total of the techniques detected over the 1:48:57 runtime of this video clip:
PROPAGANDA TECHNIQUES
11 OCCURRENCES
ad hominem: adding qualifiers: common folk: glittering generalities: guilt by association: labeling: red herring: slogan: whataboutism:
FALSEHOODS & DISTORTIONS
20 OCCURRENCES
baseless claim: cherry picking: exaggeration: false claim: half truth: misleading claim: out of context: post hoc: straw man:
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