: Click or tap on any technique - the definition will be displayed here. that appears in bold to show its definition.
: appeal to anonymous authority - insisting something is true because an unnamed expert, study, or generalized group (like 'scientists') say it's true. : All the experts were against travel bans, but are now all saying they are glad he did it, without specifying who said that.
: adding qualifiers - adding an extra word or phrase to a response, which makes it ultimately meaningless, but still leaves the desired impression. : Trump says nothing like this has ever happened before, "other than 1917," which is not saying something like this has never happened before.
: cherry picking - presenting only evidence that confirms your position, while ignoring or withholding an often more significant portion that contradicts it. : Trump lists only countries that are worse off with Covid than the U.S., while ignoring the vast majority of countries that are better off.[1]
: passing the buck - shifting blame onto someone else for self-exoneration or to direct attention away from those really at fault. : For the ramifications of Covid-19 in the U.S. to China.
: exaggeration - stretching the truth to make something seem more powerful or meaningful than it actually is. : Before the pandemic, China had their slowest economic growth in 29, not 67 years.[2]
: exaggeration - stretching the truth to make something seem more powerful or meaningful than it actually is. : While unemployment was near historical lows, it was not "the greatest economy ever in history" or even in U.S. history.[3]
: fault as virtue - presenting a weakness or undesirable trait as a strength, by focusing on any positive aspect of it. : Trump suggests that his mishandling of the pandemic is something to be grateful for, since he could have done nothing.[4]
: appeal to anonymous authority - insisting something is true because an unnamed expert, study, or generalized group (like 'scientists') say it's true. : The real experts wholeheartedly commended the administration's response to COVID-19, without specifying who praised it.
: red herring - throwing irrelevant information into an argument to divert attention from the real issue at hand. : Trump brings up his crowd size in Tulsa, which does not directly address why he chose to hold an indoor rally during the Covid-19 pandemic.
: red herring - throwing irrelevant information into an argument to divert attention from the real issue at hand. : Trump now brings up his ratings for the Tulsa event, which does not directly address why he chose to hold an indoor rally during the Covid-19 pandemic.
: baseless claim - a bold statement that is presented as accepted or established fact, with no discernable evidence to support the claim. : All Trump supporters don't listen to the media or public health officials, but only listen to Trump.
: passing the buck - shifting blame onto someone else for self-exoneration or to direct attention away from those really at fault. : For the ramifications of Covid-19 in the U.S. to the governors.
: cherry picking - presenting only evidence that confirms your position, while ignoring or withholding an often more significant portion that contradicts it. : Trump lists only states he thinks Covid rates have fallen, while ignoring the average death toll nationally has been climbing for weeks.[2]
: passing the buck - shifting blame onto someone else for self-exoneration or to direct attention away from those really at fault. : For the ramifications of Covid-19 in the U.S. to China.
: appeal to anonymous authority - insisting something is true because an unnamed expert, study, or generalized group (like 'scientists') say it's true. : Some experts say you can test too much, without specifying who says that.
: half truth - a statement that is essentially true, but lacking critical information and presented as the whole truth. : Trump credits only testing for more reported Covid cases, while ignoring the positivity rate, since testing alone can't detect Covid cases that aren't already there.[2]
: half truth - a statement that is essentially true, but lacking critical information and presented as the whole truth. : Trump mentions Covid testing didn't even exist when he took office, without mentioning Covid also didn't exist when he took office.
: half truth - a statement that is essentially true, but lacking critical information and presented as the whole truth. : Trump credits only testing for more reported Covid cases, while ignoring the fact that you can't detect Covid cases that aren't already there.[2]
: false equivalence - implying that two things are essentially the same, when they only have anecdotal similarities. : Between the U.S. Covid fatality rate (% of those infected that have died), and the U.S. Covid mortality rate (% of the population that has died from Covid), which is exceptionally high.[5]
: innuendo - implying something without actually saying it, which can't be refuted because it wasn't actually said. : Trump seems to imply South Korea may be falsifying their Covid data.
: cherry picking - presenting only evidence that confirms your position, while ignoring or withholding an often more significant portion that contradicts it. : Trump lists only states he thinks Covid rates have fallen, while ignoring the average death toll nationally has been climbing for weeks (including in Florida and Texas).[2]
: misleading claim - a statement with a few elements or kernel of truth, which can easily be proven deceptive or fundamentally untrue. : The "many people" was Colin Powell, who said commanders on the ground didn't think that it was as serious a problem as the media reported.[6]
: minimization - portraying something you don't want to address as trivial or insignificant, in order to shift the focus away from it and onto "more important" things. : Trump trivializes his inaction on Russian bounties on the heads of U.S. military personnel, in light of China and the problem of nuclear proliferation.
: red herring - throwing irrelevant information into an argument to divert attention from the real issue at hand. : Trump brings up his reading comprehension, meeting times, and global conflicts, which does not directly address whether he read the brief about Russian bounties.[2]
: muddy the waters - bringing up irrelevant facts to confuse or complicate an issue, which may otherwise be relatively simple and easy to understand. : Trump brings up prior U.S. intervention, Nicholson's job performance, the meaning of "arming," and Russia's history in Afghanistan, rather than address whether Russia should be held accountable for arming the Taliban.
: false claim - a statement that is directly contradicted by fact and can be easily proven untrue. : The U.S. troop level is indeed roughly the same as it was when Trump took office.[2]
: post hoc - proclaiming that because something occurred after X, it was caused by X, when no causal relationship at all may exist. : Taking the credit for defeating ISIS, when the military strategy used was largely inherited from the Obama administration.[2]
: false equivalence - implying that two things are essentially the same, when they only have anecdotal similarities. : Between Hillary Clinton floating the possibility of contesting the 2016 election, if foreign interference was proven, to a sitting president just not accepting the results of an election.[7]
: fear-mongering - spreading exaggerated rumors or dire warnings of impending danger to arouse fear and undermine rational thinking about an issue. : Warning that universal mail-in voting will lead to massive voter fraud, when there's no evidence that mail-in voting leads to massive voter fraud.[8]
: FUD - raising uncertainty and doubt about an issue, while providing no specifics or actual evidence to support it. : Suggesting that there would be fraud in the time it takes to count the votes for the election, when there's no evidence to suggest that there will be.
: exaggeration - stretching the truth to make something seem more powerful or meaningful than it actually is. : 10-years is the MAXIMUM penalty for damaging federal property and the 10-year penalty is not something new.[2]
: honor by association - Defending or championing cultural sacred cows in order to transfer the respect, authority, and prestige associated with those symbols onto oneself. : The police.
: scapegoating - placing unmerited blame on a person or group to channel societal resentment and frustration towards a common adversary or powerless victim. : China.
: false equivalence - implying that two things are essentially the same, when they only have anecdotal similarities. : Between just the raw number of whites killed by police and the raw number of blacks killed by police, when the number of blacks killed is proportionately twice the rate of whites.[2]
: trolling - making inflammatory or controversial comments to provoke a strong, emotional reaction from an opponent.
: post hoc - proclaiming that because something occurred after X, it was caused by X, when no causal relationship at all may exist. : Taking the credit for African American economic advances that were already well underway in the final years of Obama's tenure.[2]
: red herring - throwing irrelevant information into an argument to divert attention from the real issue at hand. : Trump brings up feeling snubbed by John Lewis, which does not directly address how history will remember John Lewis.
Total number of techniques detected over the 37:54 runtime of this video clip:
PROPAGANDA TECHNIQUES
15 OCCURRENCES
adding qualifiers: false equivalence: fault as virtue: fear-mongering: FUD: honor by association: minimization: muddy the waters: red herring: scapegoating:
FALSEHOODS & DISTORTIONS
17 OCCURRENCES
appeal to anonymous authority: baseless claim: cherry picking: exaggeration: false claim: half truth: misleading claim: post hoc:
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