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that appears in bold to show its definition.

: appeal to anonymous authority - insisting something is true based on the opinion of unnamed or vague experts.
: All the experts were against travel bans, but are now all saying they are glad he did it, without specifying who said that.

: 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 - reframing a weakness or undesirable trait as a strength by highlighting any positive aspect of it.
: Trump suggests his pandemic response—which could be viewed as chaotic and reckless—instead was highly successful compared to “going herd.” (taking no action at all).^[4]

: appeal to anonymous authority - insisting something is true based on the opinion of unnamed or vague experts.
: 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 emphasizes the crowd size and security barriers at his Tulsa rally, which may seem relevant but does not address the criticism of holding a large indoor rally during the pandemic.

: red herring - throwing irrelevant information into an argument to divert attention from the real issue at hand.
: Trump highlights his ratings for the Tulsa event, which may seem relevant but does not address concerns about the public health risks of holding the rally itself.

: 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 based on the opinion of unnamed or vague experts.
: 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, despite being significantly different, by focusing on anecdotal or superficial similarities.
: Between the low U.S. COVID fatality rate and the exceptionally high U.S. COVID mortality rate, ignoring that only the latter shows whether Americans are dying at a higher rate per capita than in other countries.^[5]

: innuendo - implying something negative or controversial without explicitly stating it, leaving the audience to infer the intended meaning.
: By repeatedly saying "you don't know that" and adding that he's holding back out of diplomacy, Trump implies that South Korea may be falsifying its COVID statistics, without explicitly making the accusation.

: 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]

: 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 may appear relevant but does not address why he failed to act on reports that Russia placed bounties on U.S. troops.^[2]

: muddying the waters - introducing irrelevant information or overly complex reasoning to confuse or complicate an issue that is otherwise straightforward and easy to understand.
: Trump introduces tangential points, like prior U.S. intervention, Nicholson's job performance, and Soviet history in Afghanistan, which confuses and dilutes the question about Russian accountability.

: 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, despite being significantly different, by focusing on anecdotal or superficial similarities.
: Between Clinton considering contesting the 2016 election results over foreign interference and Trump refusing to accept the results, overlooking that Clinton ultimately conceded even after evidence of interference emerged.^[7]

: fear mongering - spreading exaggerated rumors or dire warnings about impending danger on an issue.
: The statement relies on anecdotes about balloting errors and the idea that millions of mail-in ballots are going unaccounted for, which creates the perception of widespread mail-in voting fraud without providing any nonanecdotal evidence to support the alarming claims.^[8]

: FUD - raising uncertainty and doubt about an issue while offering few specifics and no credible evidence to support the concerns.
: The statement introduces uncertainty about the integrity of election results by using vague phrases like "lots of things will/could happen," which implies potential fraud during the counting process while offering no concrete evidence to justify the concern.

: 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]

: scapegoating - assigning blame to a vulnerable target, often without justification.
: The statement blames China (by way of COVID) not only for economic issues in the U.S. but also for undermining national unity. By emphasizing China’s role as ground zero in the pandemic, it channels public anger toward an external target and away from internal systemic causes.

: 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 personally snubbed by John Lewis, which may sound like a meaningful critique but is fundamentally irrelevant to Lewis’s place in history.