Introduction



False Persuaders Lauren VanRoy, Megan Paratore, Khayla Martinez, Vincenzo Valente EXS 111-601SUNY CortlandTable of contents TOC \h \u \z Introduction PAGEREF _afjzzvtio0bk \h 3The “Straw Man” Argument PAGEREF _f7nwl2fqp1r1 \h 3The Ad Hominem Argument PAGEREF _u4slpptc3e7r \h 4The “Appeal to Fear” Argument PAGEREF _bhouahl1aeth \h 5The “Bandwagon” Argument PAGEREF _vo3ile9py9iq \h 6The “Genetic Fallacy” Argument PAGEREF _kr5hi5n7z2jv \h 6Conclusion PAGEREF _tc659095ct6y \h 7Works Cited PAGEREF _5htjqaaagklu \h 8 TOC \h \u \z IntroductionFalse persuasions and claims are seen all throughout modern politics. The most recent, and widely talked about is Donald Trump, how he used many tactics to make promises to American people during his election. Some of the strategies Trump used were the straw man argument, the ad hominem argument, appeal to fear argument,the bandwagon argument and the “genetic fallacy” argument. However, he is not the only politician to use persuasion tactics to get Americans to get on their side. There are a few specific tactics that are widely used throughout the political world. The “Straw Man” ArgumentThe straw man argument is when you purposely misrepresent your opponent’s argument so it is easier for you to attack (Molloy). An example of this is when Donald Trump said that Hillary Clinton wanted to abolish the second amendment. This was not true, because in reality Hillary Clinton just supported increased gun safety measures, not abolishing the second amendment (Molloy). The straw man argument can be very effective because some voters may not be very well informed on the candidates, so when they hear Donald Trump say that Hillary Clinton wants to abolish the second amendment they will believe it and begin to sway towards Trumps side. This is a smart tactic, but is not very honest.“The average voting-age American saw, remembered, and believed more than 0.71 pro-Trump fake stories and 0.18 pro-Clinton fake stories” (Hunt 1).Most people get their information from social media and a lot of the facts are falsely reported or misinterpreted. On Twitter as many as 1 in 20 active accounts are fake. Facebook’s equivalent number is a little more than 1 in 100 active users (Simonite). “14 percent of Americans viewed social media as their “most important” source of election news” (Hunt 2). This means people believe all of the straw arguments and they are not getting all the facts of each side of the election because they are getting a biased view.The Ad Hominem ArgumentThe ad hominem argument is when a person attacks their competitor, and not their political ideas (Molloy). This was greatly seen in the most recent presidential election. Donald Trump used this tactic very often when referring to Hillary Clinton as “crooked” Hillary, and also to Marco Rubio as “Little Marco”. This is a way to make voters view those candidates as weaker, or as corrupt. If this is used enough times then voters may also start to refer to those candidates in the same way. This tactic can really show how much a candidate does not know about the real issues going on. They are trying to move the attention 20288251276350This is an example of Trump using the ad hominem argument (Jervis).This is an example of Trump using the ad hominem argument (Jervis).from the issues they are supposed to be talking about to their opponent and trying to make immature remarks towards them. Trump used this throughout the entire presidential election, and many people joined in on those remarks, but they didn’t realize he was just doing that so he wouldn’t have to talk about his own ideas in depth. The ad hominem has been going on for centuries,“ during the presidential campaign of 1800, John Adams was called “a fool, a gross hypocrite and an unprincipled oppressor.” His rival, Thomas Jefferson, on the other hand, was deemed “an uncivilized atheist, anti-American, a tool for the godless French.” Accusations like these can easily foreclose on intelligent political discourse about what might make either candidate a good president (Raley)”. People make judgements based on what other people say even if it’s false.The “Appeal to Fear” ArgumentThe “appeal to fear” argument is when decision making skills are impaired and ultimately people don't look at arguments from a rational perspective (Molloy). This is a tactic that many different people use, because it creates a fear for an alternate point of view. However, it is widely seen in dictatorships and other similar governments to make citizens believe that they need that particular ruler to protect them from all the “dangers” they have been told about. Donald Trump also used this tactic during the presidential election. “ Trump’s candidacy relies on the power of fear (Ball)”. He would talk about how a very large amount of the Muslim population hated Americans, and that the hatred would continue to grow. He even went so far as to say that more terrorist attacks like ones on 9/11 would occur (Molloy). Due to this Americans are more afraid today, polls have shown that a majority of Americans are worried about being victims of terrorism, and crime,numbers have increased over the past year that haven't been seen for more than a decade (Ball). Society then believes that the only way to live without fear is to vote for someone who promises to “protect” us against all these claims.13716002190750A main tactic of Trump’s campaign is to appeal fear. A main tactic of Trump’s campaign is to appeal fear. The “Bandwagon” ArgumentThe bandwagon argument is the belief that if a lot of people believe or agree on something then it must be correct (Molloy). Social media is a key contributor in informing the world on news. If everyone sees an article or a video being reposted a hundred times on their news feeds they are going to believe the the article is 100% true without hesitation because everyone else thinks it is accurate. Many people wouldn’t bother to do further research to see whether the information is actually accurate or not. Bandwagon supporters can be a real problem, and can cause a lot of misinformation to be spread rapidly. Donald Trump has said before how the “fake news” is trying to attack him with hoax stories, but Trump loves to relay messages to the people without checking the authenticity of the report. For example, Trump claimed “We had a landslide victory” and “one of the greatest defeats (306-232) which in all reality wasn’t true. For both of President's Obama’s victories he won by 52 more electoral college votes in 2012, and by nearly 109 more electoral college votes in 2008 than Trump did in his 2016 election. Yet with all the information that proves Trump wrong he continues to pass this story on to try to gain more followers to his fanbase. The “Genetic Fallacy” ArgumentThe “genetic fallacy” argument is an argument based on someones or somethings origin, history, or source (Molloy). This is something that uses stereotypes to make a whole group of people seem like they all have the same thoughts, and feelings. This argument tries to convince people that even if only a few people of a certain race, ethnicity, gender, etc. have a negative outlook on something, that all of the people of that race, ethnicity, gender, etc also have that same view. President Trump has used this tactic a few times while on his presidential campaign tour. For example, Donald Trump started using this tactic on the current president at the time Barack Obama who was of muslim heritage by saying his birth certificate was fake. Since President Obama was African American and came up with a muslim background, Trump knew he could get people to agree and follow his claim. Also with this argument he tied the illegal immigrants entering the country to Obama’s muslim heritage. 24955501333500This is an example of Trump using the genetic fallacy argument (Trump).This is an example of Trump using the genetic fallacy argument (Trump).Conclusion Many politicians and our very own President Trump have used many strategies to help win over voters by distracting them with false claims. Fake persuasion and false claims are seen all throughout modern politics.The straw man argument, the ad hominem argument, the appeal to fear argument, the bandwagon argument, and the genetic fallacy argument are just some tactics used to persuade American people. When used at different times these tactics can grab the attention of someone who opposes the Democratic President (Obama). Some would agree with president Trump simply because they personally don’t like President Obama.Works CitedMolloy, P., & Eisenberg, R. (2016, October 18). Arguing is easy; persuasion is hard: what Donald Trump teaches us about debate. Retrieved March 02, 2017, from ; Gentzkow, M. "Social Media and Fake News in the 2016 Election." (2017). Retrieved March 02,2017 from /research/fakenews.pdfSimonite, T. (2016, April 22). Bots Infiltrate Social Networks, Push Ideas, Products. Retrieved March 02, 2017, from , M. (2016, September 02). Donald Trump and the Politics of Fear. Retrieved March 07, 2017,from , J. (2016, May 22). Donald Trump: Hillary Backs Gun Control Therefore She Doesn't Deserve Armed Bodyguards. Retrieved March 07, 2017, from campaign: 11 outrageous quotes. (n.d.). Retrieved March 07, 2017, from , A. (2016, December 11). FACT CHECK: Trump Falsely Claims A 'Massive Landslide Victory' Retrieved March 9, 2017, from Logical Fallacies this Election Season. (1970, August 19). Retrieved March 07, 2017, from , Y. (2008, May 22). Character Attacks: How to Properly Apply the Ad Hominem. Retrieved March 07, 2017, from ................
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