Full coverage of the first presidential debate of 2016, between Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump.

By Jon Wright Fay
10/12/2016 • 03:21 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.
: slogansee definition - a brief, striking phrase that people will remember, which typically acts on emotional appeals.
: Trump's economic plan is "Trumped-up trickle-down."
: common folksee definition - establishing a connection with an audience based on being just like one of them and being able to empathize with their concerns.
: false claimsee definition - a statement that is directly contradicted by fact and can be easily proven untrue.
: After examining more than 100,000 confidential documents, the NY Times concluded that the "small loan" was actually $60.7 million.[1]
: half truthsee definition - a statement that is essentially true, but lacking critical information and presented as the whole truth.
: Trump mentions the 16% VAT tax paid by U.S. companies in Mexico, without mentioning that Mexican companies pay the same 16% VAT tax in Mexico.[2]
: norm of reciprocitysee definition - the principle of human nature that makes people feel obligated to give back, when they're given something, even if the something given wasn't asked for or wanted.
: By getting Clinton to follow his lead, he makes anything he says after seem more irrefutable.
: false claimsee definition - a statement that is directly contradicted by fact and can be easily proven untrue.
: Trump indeed tweeted, "The concept of global warming was created by and for the Chinese in order to make U.S. manufacturing non-competitive."
: loaded questionsee definition - presenting a question that has a presumption of guilt built into it.
: adding qualifierssee definition - adding an extra word or phrase to a response, which makes it ultimately meaningless, but still leaves the desired impression.
: Clinton saying she was against the TPP "once it was finally negotiated," is not saying she was against it before she started running for president.[3]
: glittering generalitiessee definition - vague words or phrases used to evoke positive emotional appeal, without presenting supporting information or reason.
: About Clinton driving business out of the U.S. by increasing regulations on top of regulations and Trump cutting regulations, and him cutting taxes big league and her raising taxes big league, end of story.
: labelingsee definition - pigeon-holing a person or group into a simple category and assigning names and/or beliefs to that category.
: Trump casts Clinton as a typical ineffective politician.
: red herringsee definition - throwing an irrelevant fact into an argument to divert attention from the real issue at hand.
: Trump brings up being under audit and releasing his public financial disclosure, which have nothing to do with why he hasn't released his tax returns.[5]
: false equivalencysee definition - implying that two things are essentially the same, when they only have anecdotal similarities.
: Between Trump's tax returns, which he can release whenever he chooses, and Clinton's emails, which she can't release because they no longer exist.
: false claimsee definition - a statement that is directly contradicted by fact and can be easily proven untrue.
: In the tax returns that anyone has seen from Trump, he has paid federal income tax for three out of five years from 1975 to 1979.[3]
: guilt by associationsee definition - using an opponent's links to another to assign the other's beliefs, misdeeds, or other unattractive qualities to the opponent.
: Trump uses Clinton's years as a politician to identify her with the failings of other politicians.
: false claimsee definition - a statement that is directly contradicted by fact and can be easily proven untrue.
: Trump filed for bankruptcy six (not four) times.[3]
: dog whistlesee definition - ambiguous messaging used to stoke racial fear and anxiety and/or to covertly signal allegiance to certain subgroups of an audience.
: Summoning "law and order" could be a way to stoke racial anxiety about crime in low-income communities and to signal support for cracking down on civil disobedience by people of color.[8]
: false claimsee definition - a statement that is directly contradicted by fact and can be easily proven untrue.
: While crime has continued to drop under the current mayor, there was a 5.7% rise in murders, since ending stop and frisk.[3]
: fault as virtuesee definition - technique where a weakness is presented as a strength, by focusing on any positive aspect of it.
: Trump claims his spreading the false rumor that Obama was born in Kenya was commendable since it forced Obama to disprove the false rumor.
: fault as virtuesee definition - technique where a weakness is presented as a strength, by focusing on any positive aspect of it.
: Trump claims his spreading the false rumor that Obama was born in Kenya was a service to Obama since it forced Obama to take action to clear himself of the false allegation.
: whataboutismsee definition - discrediting a criticism by accusing hypocrisy, in order to shift the focus away from oneself and onto others.
: Trump shifts the focus from him playing racial politics with Obama to Clinton playing racial politics with Obama.
: proof by anecdotesee definition - making a broad generalization, based on an individual story or stories that support that generalization.
: Trump suggests that he doesn't racially discriminate because at his Palm Beach club in Florida he says he doesn't racially discriminate.
: 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.
: Trump invited the Russians to find Clinton's 30,000 deleted emails, NOT to hack into random Americans.[10]
: misleading claimsee definition - a statement with a few elements or kernel of truth, which can easily be proven deceptive or fundamentally untrue.
: ICE, the federal agency, didn't endorse Trump, rather a union representing 5,000 federal immigration officers did.[11]
: misleading claimsee definition - a statement with a few elements or kernel of truth, which can easily be proven deceptive or fundamentally untrue.
: 73% is how much the U.S. spends on its own military, compared to other alliance countries. The U.S. actually pays about 22% of the NATO budget.[12]
: false claimsee definition - a statement that is directly contradicted by fact and can be easily proven untrue.
: Trump's public stance against the Iraq War did not occur until August 2004 (a year after the war started), before which he was either noncommittal or supported it.[13]
: exaggerationsee definition - stretching the truth to make something seem more powerful or meaningful than it actually is.
: Although Clinton played a major role, she wasn't solely responsible for imposing international sanctions against Iran.[14]
: innuendosee definition - implying something without actually saying it, which can't be refuted because it wasn't actually said.
: Clinton implies that Trump wouldn't honor mutual defense treaties, without actually saying it.
: innuendosee definition - implying something without actually saying it, which can't be refuted because it wasn't actually said.
: Clinton now implies Trump is a bully, without actually saying it.
: euphemismsee definition - replacing language that is accurate but may be offensive to your target audience with language that is more palatable or appealing.
: Saying "she doesn't have the look or the stamina" rather than saying "she's not male." [15]
: the last wordsee definition - getting in the final words in an exchange to take advantage of the cognitive bias to remember best what is heard last.

Total number of techniques detected over the 1:38:58 runtime of this video clip:


References
1. "Trump's false claim he built his empire with a 'small loan' from his father". The Washington Post. Published: March 03, 2016.

2. "Here's What Donald Trump Got Wrong About Mexico's Taxes". Time. Published: October 02, 2016.

3. "FactChecking the First Debate". FactCheck.org. Published: September 27, 2016.

7. "Mortality from Homicide among Young Black Men: A New American Tragedy". The American Journal of Medicine. Published: January 17, 2013.

9. "Fraternal Order of Police union endorses Trump". The Washington Post. Published: September 16, 2016.

10. "Trump Invited the Russians to Hack Clinton. Were They Listening?". The New York Times. Published: July 13, 2018.

11. "Donald Trump says ICE endorsed him". Politifact. Published: October 09, 2016.

12. "Distorted NATO Funding Figure". FactCheck.org. Published: December 14, 2017.

13. "Was Trump Against the Iraq War from the Beginning?". Snopes.com. Published: September 27, 2016.

14. "Hillary Clinton says she helped usher Iran to the negotiating table". Politifact. Published: November 23, 2015.

15. "Donald Trump Says Hillary Clinton Doesn't Have 'a Presidential Look'". The New York Times. Published: September 06, 2016.