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Full coverage of the 9th Democratic debate of the 2020 presidential campaign season from Las Vegas.

By Tara Jons
03/12/2020 • 05:35 AM EST

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: Click or tap on any techniquesee definition - the definition will be displayed here.
 that appears in bold to show its definition.
: misleading claimsee definition - 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.[1]
: guilt by associationsee definition - using an opponent's links to another person or group to assign the other's beliefs, misdeeds, or other unattractive traits to the opponent.
: Warren uses Bloomberg's financial status and history of misogynist behavior to identify Bloomberg with Trump.
: half truthsee definition - a statement that is essentially true, but lacking critical information and presented as the whole truth.
: Klobuchar mentions her getting the highest voter turnout of any state in the country, without mentioning Minnesota normally has the highest voter turnout, whether she's on the ticket or not.[2]
: exaggerationsee definition - 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.[3]
: labelingsee definition - pigeon-holing a person or group into a simple category and assigning names and/or beliefs to that category.
: Buttigieg casts Sanders as a capitalist-hating socialist and Bloomberg as an elitist billionaire.
: innuendosee definition - 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 saying it.
: slogansee definition - a brief, striking phrase that people will remember, typically designed to evoke emotional appeals and reinforce a specific message or idea.
: Sanders wants to "burn the party down," while Bloomberg wants to "buy the party out."
: exaggerationsee definition - 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.[4]
: misleading claimsee definition - 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 mentioning any race or ethnic group.[5]
: baseless claimsee definition - a bold statement that is presented as accepted or established fact, with no discernable evidence to support the claim.
: 99.9% of the 10.6 million people on Twitter are decent, working people who believe in justice, compassion, and love.
: exaggerationsee definition - 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 [5], the 87 million is more like 68 million [5], 60,000 far exceeds the number of people dying each year from not seeing a doctor on time [4], and 500,000 people are not going bankrupt solely due to health care costs.[6]
: baseless claimsee definition - a bold statement that is presented as accepted or established fact, with no discernable evidence to support the claim.
: Buttigieg's health care plan was a slogan thought up by his consultants.
: going negativesee definition - characterizing criticism from an opponent as being underhanded, unfair, or indecent in some way.
: exaggerationsee definition - 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.[3]
: post hocsee definition - proclaiming that because something occurred after X, it was caused by X, when no causal relationship at all may exist.
: Crediting stop-and-frisk for a decline in the murder rate, when it had already been declining years before stop-and-frisk was implemented.[7]
: misleading claimsee definition - 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.[5]
: whataboutismsee definition - discrediting a criticism by accusing hypocrisy, in order to shift the focus away from oneself and onto others.
: Bloomberg shifts the focus from his missteps on criminal justice to everybody else's missteps on criminal justice.
: cherry pickingsee definition - presenting only evidence that confirms your position, while ignoring or withholding an often more significant portion that contradicts it.
: Sanders lists only the letters from doctors saying he's in good health, while ignoring that he hasn't released his full medical records.[8]
: misleading claimsee definition - 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.[3]
: red herringsee definition - throwing irrelevant information into an argument to divert attention from the real issue at hand.
: Bloomberg highlights his strong track record of hiring women, which does not directly address his past sexist behavior towards women in the workplace.
: pointed questionsee definition - a question that is difficult to answer in an ambiguous manner without appearing to be evading or dodging.
: false claimsee definition - 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.[9]
: false claimsee definition - 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.[9]
: saber-rattlingsee definition - 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 claimsee definition - 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%.[9]
: guilt by associationsee definition - using an opponent's links to another person or group to assign the other's beliefs, misdeeds, or other unattractive traits to the opponent.
: Sanders uses Bloomberg's financial status to identify him with other billionaires that corrupt the political system for their own benefit.
: straw mansee definition - misrepresenting an opponent's position or argument to make it easier to attack, usually by exaggerating, distorting, or just completely fabricating it.
: Sanders is advocating for a policy to increase employee ownership in corporations, NOT for communism or an end to capitalism.
: exaggerationsee definition - stretching the truth to make something seem more powerful or meaningful than it actually is.
: Many economists estimate a wealth tax would raise only about 40% of what Warren estimates.[10]
: baseless claimsee definition - a bold statement that is presented as accepted or established fact, with no discernable evidence to support the claim.
: Buttigieg has changed his positions to appease his donors.
: common folksee definition - connecting with an audience by showing that you understand and share their everyday experiences and concerns.
: out of contextsee definition - 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.[10]

Total number of techniques detected over the 1:48:57 runtime of this video clip:

PROPAGANDA TECHNIQUES

7 OCCURRENCES

common folk:  
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:  

SUMMARY

27 OCCURRENCES

Warren: 28%
Bloomberg: 24%
Sanders: 21%
Biden: 14%
Buttigieg: 10%
Klobuchar: 3%

References
1. "The Basics of 'Medicare for All'". The New York Times. Published: March 01, 2020.

2. "Klobuchar wants credit for Minnesota's consistently high turnout". The Washington Post. Published: February 19, 2020.

3. "Fact-checking the Las Vegas Democratic debate". CNN Politics. Published: February 20, 2020.

4. "The Stump Speech Analyzer: Bernie Sanders". Politifact. Published: January 23, 2020.

5. "FactChecking the Las Vegas Democratic Debate". FactCheck.org. Published: February 20, 2020.

6. "Sanders's flawed statistic: 500,000 medical bankruptcies a year". The Washington Post. Published: August 28, 2019.

8. "Sanders Suggests He Won't Release Full Medical Records". The New York Times. Published: February 19, 2020.

9. "Fact-Checking the Las Vegas Democratic Debate". The New York Times. Published: February 19, 2020.

10. "Facts on Warren's Wealth Tax Plan". FactCheck.org. Published: July 25, 2019.