For example, if a person claims he or she is in favor of gay marriage, then his or her opponent might claim this would lead to people marrying their dogs. This occurs when a person claims one harmless event will lead to another and another, ending in something horrible. Unfortunately, this is one of Trump’s favorite fallacies, and he has used it to derail conversation on pretty much every topic, from the Mueller investigation to climate change. Therefore, Trump’s comments above and many others have reframed the national debates over healthcare, the Second Amendment, and border security into logical absurdities, making them impossible to engage in. In fact, Obama made border security a major issue. And they do not want open borders, as they are simply trying to stop the demonization of immigrants. They are also not trying to destroy the Second Amendment, merely pushing for safer regulations. Democrats are trying to increase access to health care. Of course, no democrat has said or done anything to make this even remotely true. Democrats have become the party of crime - it is true!” Destroy your Second Amendment and throw open the borders to deadly drugs and vicious gangs, because plenty of them are coming across and a lot of drugs. Among many examples, perhaps the most egregious is when he said “They want to take away your healthcare, because our country cannot afford it.

Despite how illogical this is, this fallacy is used every year around the holidays. For example, if someone says “happy holidays” instead of “merry Christmas” to accommodate non-Christians, his or her opponent might say “this is anti-Christian bias and the war on Christianity needs to stop!” Clearly, the second person misinterpreted the point of saying “happy holidays,” and changed their opponent’s argument into something more easily argued against. Like the name suggests, this is when someone distorts their opponent’s argument, making it seem weak so it can be easily destroyed. Unfortunately, today Trump has taken it to an absurd level and left our national debate perhaps beyond saving. And Trump is notorious for doing this.ĭespite the fact that Aristotle first formally identified them in his famous work Sophistical Refutations 2300 years ago, logical fallacies have been commonplace, especially in politics. In practice, this is an effective way to make your opponent’s argument seem incorrect, but in reality has only skirted the issue. For example, one of the most common is the Ad Hominem fallacy, in which your opponent attacks your character instead of your argument. On the surface, they appear logically sound, but under scrutiny they don’t hold up. Logical fallacies are missteps in reasoning, either intentionally or unintentionally, to win an argument.

Conway red herring fallacy