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Full coverage of the 2020 Georgia U.S. Senate runoff debate between Kelly Loeffler and Raphael Warnock.

By Michael Gordon
12/30/2020 • 06:32 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.
: There are actually 132 cases under investigation, the majority of which involve procedural matters unrelated to voter fraud.[1]
: FUDsee definition - making dire warnings or raising doubt about an issue, while provided little or no specifics or evidence to support the claims.
: Warning that if Warnock wins, Democrats will defund the police and open the borders, when both Warnock and Biden have explicitly stated they oppose defunding the police and Biden doesn't support "open borders."[2][4]
: misleading claimsee definition - a statement with a few elements or kernel of truth, which can easily be proven deceptive or fundamentally untrue.
: There are actually 132 cases under investigation, the majority of which involve procedural matters unrelated to voter fraud.[1]
: labelingsee definition - pigeon-holing a person or group into a simple category and assigning names and/or beliefs to that category.
: Loeffler associates the Democrats with socialism.
: common folksee definition - establishing a connection with an audience based on being just like one of them and therefore being able to empathize with their concerns.
: common folksee definition - establishing a connection with an audience based on being just like one of them and therefore being able to empathize with their concerns.
: labelingsee definition - pigeon-holing a person or group into a simple category and assigning names and/or beliefs to that category.
: Warnock casts Loeffler as a out of touch elite.
: common folksee definition - establishing a connection with an audience based on being just like one of them and therefore being able to empathize with their concerns.
: labelingsee definition - pigeon-holing a person or group into a simple category and assigning names and/or beliefs to that category.
: Loeffler casts Warnock as a radical liberal.
: ad hominemsee definition - attacking the character or motive of your opponent, while not refuting his facts or logic.
: Warnock focuses on Loeffler's motive for attacking remarks he's made, while not addressing the remarks he's made.
: labelingsee definition - pigeon-holing a person or group into a simple category and assigning names and/or beliefs to that category.
: Loeffler casts Warnock as a radical liberal.
: honor by associationsee definition - championing public symbols that carry respect, authority, sanction, and prestige to assume the respect, authority, sanction, and prestige of those symbols.
: The police, the military
: misleading claimsee definition - a statement with a few elements or kernel of truth, which can easily be proven deceptive or fundamentally untrue.
: There are actually 132 cases under investigation, the vast majority of which involve procedural matters unrelated to voter fraud.[1]
: labelingsee definition - pigeon-holing a person or group into a simple category and assigning names and/or beliefs to that category.
: Loeffler casts Warnock as a radical liberal.
: honor by associationsee definition - championing public symbols that carry respect, authority, sanction, and prestige to assume the respect, authority, sanction, and prestige of those symbols.
: The police, the military.
: loaded questionsee definition - presenting a question that has a presumption of guilt built into it.
: exaggerationsee definition - stretching the truth, to make something seem more powerful or meaningful than it actually is.
: While Loeffler was acquitted of any wrongdoing, she was never charged with a crime, so she couldn't have been exonerated.[3]
: FUDsee definition - making dire warnings or raising doubt about an issue, while provided little or no specifics or evidence to support the claims.
: Warning that if Warnock wins, Democrats will defund the police, when both Warnock and Biden have explicitly stated they oppose defunding the police.[2][4]
: loaded questionsee definition - presenting a question that has a presumption of guilt built into it.
: labelingsee definition - pigeon-holing a person or group into a simple category and assigning names and/or beliefs to that category.
: Loeffler casts Warnock as a radical liberal.
: honor by associationsee definition - championing public symbols that carry respect, authority, sanction, and prestige to assume the respect, authority, sanction, and prestige of those symbols.
: The police, the military, Israel.
: FUDsee definition - making dire warnings or raising doubt about an issue, while provided little or no specifics or evidence to support the claims.
: Warning that if Warnock wins, Democrats will defund the police and open the borders, when both Warnock and Biden have explicitly stated they oppose defunding the police and Biden doesn't support "open borders."[2][4]
: labelingsee definition - pigeon-holing a person or group into a simple category and assigning names and/or beliefs to that category.
: Loeffler casts Warnock as a radical liberal, out-of-state funded, rubber stamp for Schumer.
: labelingsee definition - pigeon-holing a person or group into a simple category and assigning names and/or beliefs to that category.
: Loeffler casts Warnock as a radical liberal.
: honor by associationsee definition - championing public symbols that carry respect, authority, sanction, and prestige to assume the respect, authority, sanction, and prestige of those symbols.
: The police.
: 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.
: While Warnock did say some police in Ferguson had a "gangster and thug mentality," he didn't call police gangsters and thugs.[4]
: labelingsee definition - pigeon-holing a person or group into a simple category and assigning names and/or beliefs to that category.
: Loeffler casts Warnock as a radical liberal, rubber stamp for Schumer and Pelosi.
: common folksee definition - establishing a connection with an audience based on being just like one of them and therefore being able to empathize with their concerns.
: labelingsee definition - pigeon-holing a person or group into a simple category and assigning names and/or beliefs to that category.
: Loeffler casts Warnock as a radical liberal and a socialist.
: slogansee definition - a brief, striking phrase that people will remember, which typically acts on emotional appeals.
: "She was appointed. The people of Georgia have been disappointed."
: labelingsee definition - pigeon-holing a person or group into a simple category and assigning names and/or beliefs to that category.
: Warnock casts Loeffler as an out of touch elite.
: labelingsee definition - pigeon-holing a person or group into a simple category and assigning names and/or beliefs to that category.
: Loeffler casts Warnock as a radical liberal.
: 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.
: Loeffler uses Warnock's working at a church that welcomed Castro to link him to communism.[5]
: 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.
: Loeffler uses a comment Warnock made during 2008 interview, where he mentioned Jeremiah Wright, to link Warnock to anti-Semitism.[6]
: honor by associationsee definition - championing public symbols that carry respect, authority, sanction, and prestige to assume the respect, authority, sanction, and prestige of those symbols.
: The police, the military.
: honor by associationsee definition - championing public symbols that carry respect, authority, sanction, and prestige to assume the respect, authority, sanction, and prestige of those symbols.
: Religion, the military, whiteness, Israel.
: minimizationsee definition - characterizing something that you don't want to address as trivial or insignificant, in order to shift the focus away from it and onto "more important" things.
: Warnock trivializes his being pro-choice in light of issues like infant and maternal mortality.
: labelingsee definition - pigeon-holing a person or group into a simple category and assigning names and/or beliefs to that category.
: Loeffler casts Warnock as a radical socialist.
: FUDsee definition - making dire warnings or raising doubt about an issue, while provided little or no specifics or evidence to support the claims.
: Claiming "the left" supports defunding the police and "open borders," when both Warnock and Biden have explicitly stated they oppose defunding the police and Biden doesn't support "open borders."[2][4]
: 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.
: Loeffler uses Warnock being endorsed by organizations that may want to defund the police to link Warnock to defunding the police.
: labelingsee definition - pigeon-holing a person or group into a simple category and assigning names and/or beliefs to that category.
: Loeffler casts Warnock as a radical liberal.
: misleading claimsee definition - a statement with a few elements or kernel of truth, which can easily be proven deceptive or fundamentally untrue.
: Loeffler voted against a catch-all spending bill, which included money for community policing (COPS), but there's no evidence that COPS funding was the reason for her "no" vote.[7]
: minimizationsee definition - characterizing something that you don't want to address as trivial or insignificant, in order to shift the focus away from it and onto "more important" things.
: Warnock trivializes the importance of knowing what his position is on the size of SCOTUS, in light of other things like COVID 19 relief.
: labelingsee definition - pigeon-holing a person or group into a simple category and assigning names and/or beliefs to that category.
: Warnock casts Loeffler as an out of touch elite.
: minimizationsee definition - characterizing something that you don't want to address as trivial or insignificant, in order to shift the focus away from it and onto "more important" things.
: Warnock trivializes whatever his position might be on the size of SCOTUS, in the face of everyday people's struggles with the pandemic.
: labelingsee definition - pigeon-holing a person or group into a simple category and assigning names and/or beliefs to that category.
: Loeffler casts Warnock as a radical liberal.
: baseless claimsee definition - a statement that is presented as accepted or established fact, but is wholly undecided or unsubstantiated.
: Warnock would not only increase the size of SCOTUS, but would pack it with radicals justices that would override the Constitution.
: honor by associationsee definition - championing public symbols that carry respect, authority, sanction, and prestige to assume the respect, authority, sanction, and prestige of those symbols.
: The police.
: half truthsee definition - a statement that is essentially true, but lacking critical information and presented as the whole truth.
: Loeffler mentions Warnock's call for ending cash bail, without mentioning he just wants to do it for nonviolent offenses.[8]
: 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.
: Warnock uses Loeffler's accepting Marjorie Taylor Greene's endorsement and being interviewed by Jack Posobiec to link her to QAnon and white supremacists.[9]
: 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.
: Loeffler uses a comment Warnock made during 2008 interview, where he mentioned Jeremiah Wright to link Warnock to anti-Semitism.[6]
: 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.
: While the accusation of inappropriately trading stocks may be considered an attack on Loeffler, it's not an attack on every single Georgian or the America dream.
: honor by associationsee definition - championing public symbols that carry respect, authority, sanction, and prestige to assume the respect, authority, sanction, and prestige of those symbols.
: Religion
: labelingsee definition - pigeon-holing a person or group into a simple category and assigning names and/or beliefs to that category.
: Loeffler casts herself as the American dream and Warnock as socialism.
: labelingsee definition - pigeon-holing a person or group into a simple category and assigning names and/or beliefs to that category.
: Loeffler casts Warnock as a radial liberal.
: honor by associationsee definition - championing public symbols that carry respect, authority, sanction, and prestige to assume the respect, authority, sanction, and prestige of those symbols.
: Our military, the police.
: labelingsee definition - pigeon-holing a person or group into a simple category and assigning names and/or beliefs to that category.
: Loeffler again associates Warnock with socialism.
: slogansee definition - a brief, striking phrase that people will remember, which typically acts on emotional appeals.
: "They have no vision, so they engage in division."

Cumulative total of the techniques detected over the 56:16 runtime of this video clip:

PROPAGANDA TECHNIQUES

47 OCCURRENCES

ad hominem:  
common folk:        
FUD:        
guilt by association:          
honor by association:                  
labeling:                                      
minimization:      
slogan:    

FALSEHOODS & DISTORTIONS

9 OCCURRENCES

baseless claim:  
exaggeration:  
half truth:  
misleading claim:        
straw man:    

SUMMARY

58 OCCURRENCES

Loeffler: 74%
Warnock: 26%

References
1. "Georgia officials overstated election investigations". Atlanta Journal-Constitution. Published: December 17, 2020.

2. "RNC fact check: First night speakers spin". Roll Call. Published: August 25, 2020.

4. "Ad Links Warnock to 'Defunding the Police'". FactCheck.org. Published: November 25, 2020.

8. "Fact-check: Did Georgia Sen. Kelly Loeffler accept an endorsement from a QAnon supporter?". Austin American-Statesman. Published: December 10, 2020.