: Click or tap on any technique - the definition will be displayed here. that appears in bold to show its definition.
: fault as virtue - technique where a weakness is presented as a strength, by focusing on any positive aspect of it. : Youngkin characterizes his encouraging Covid vaccines, while not mandating them, as proof that he's doing more than McAuliffe to get Virginians vaccinated.
: baseless claim - a statement that is presented as accepted or established fact, but no evidence could be found to support the claim. : Public service announcements (PSAs) don't accomplish anything.
: poisoning the well - discrediting your opponent to an audience in advance, in order to encourage dismissing any future claims or accusations they may make against you. : Youngkin preemptively discredits anything McAuliffe will say as lies, excuses, or radical positions.
: whataboutism - discrediting a criticism by accusing hypocrisy, in order to shift the focus away from oneself and onto others. : Youngkin shifts the focus from him being ant-vax to McAuliffe being anti-vax (by virtue of appointing someone who's anti-vax).
: glittering generalities - vague words or phrases used to evoke positive emotional appeal, without presenting supporting information or reason. : About "going to work on day one," making government work for Virginians," introducing the "concept of customer service" and "fixing problems," (when it's unclear what he'll actually do or what any of that means).
: whataboutism - discrediting a criticism by accusing hypocrisy, in order to shift the focus away from oneself and onto others. : Youngkin shifts the focus from his involvement with the Carlyle Group to McAuliffe's involvement with the Carlyle Group.
: post hoc - proclaiming that because something occurred after X, it was caused by X, when no causal relationship may exist at all. : Taking credit for dropping unemployment, while McAuliffe was in office, when it was dropping at about the same rate in other states during that time.[1]
: straw man - misrepresenting an opponent's position or argument to make it easier to attack, usually by exaggerating, distorting, or just completely fabricating it. : While Youngkin has expressed support for limiting access to late term abortions, he has not expressed support for a total ban on abortions or defunding Planned Parenthood.[2]
: FUD - making dire warnings or raising doubt about an issue, while provided little or no specifics or evidence to support the claims. : Warning that Virginia could end up with the more extreme Texas abortion law, which was never asked about and Youngkin has already stated he doesn't support.
: muddy the waters - bringing up irrelevant facts to confuse or complicate an issue, which may otherwise be relatively simple and easy to understand. : Youngkin inserts the Texas abortion law and answers the question for the Texas law, rather than the proposed abortion law in question.
: labeling - pigeon-holing a person or group into a simple category and assigning names and/or beliefs to that category. : Youngkin associates McAuliffe with abortions and himself with jobs.
: labeling - pigeon-holing a person or group into a simple category and assigning names and/or beliefs to that category. : Youngkin casts McAuliffe as an extreme pro-abortionist.
: straw man - misrepresenting an opponent's position or argument to make it easier to attack, usually by exaggerating, distorting, or just completely fabricating it. : While Youngkin did get recorded saying he would support efforts to further restrict abortions, he never said he was for banning abortions or defunding Planned Parenthood.[2]
: labeling - pigeon-holing a person or group into a simple category and assigning names and/or beliefs to that category. : Now McAuliffe associates himself with jobs and Youngkin with banning abortion.
: straw man - misrepresenting an opponent's position or argument to make it easier to attack, usually by exaggerating, distorting, or just completely fabricating it. : While McAuliffe did say he wants to "make life difficult," he was referring to those who refuse to get a Covid vaccine, not all Virginians.[3]
: misleading claim - a statement with a few elements or kernel of truth, which can easily be proven deceptive or fundamentally untrue. : The economic plan McAuliffe is talking about is no longer Youngkin's plan since August.[4]
: straw man - misrepresenting an opponent's position or argument to make it easier to attack, usually by exaggerating, distorting, or just completely fabricating it. : While Youngkin has campaigned on the issue of election integrity, he has never said it was the most important issue facing Virginia.[5]
: cherry picking - presenting only evidence that confirms your position, while ignoring or withholding an often more significant portion that contradicts it. : Youngkin highlights only the murder rate, while not mentioning that Virginia had one of the lowest crime rates in the country when McAuliffe was in office.[6]
: half truth - a statement that is essentially true, but lacking critical information and presented as the whole truth. : McAuliffe mentions that he supports qualified immunity, without mentioning he called for ending qualified immunity in April.[7]
: adding qualifiers - adding an extra word or phrase to a response, which makes it ultimately meaningless, but still leaves the desired impression. : McAuliffe touts Virginia having the lowest crime rate of any "major" state when he was governor, which is not saying Virginia had the lowest crime rate of any state when he was governor.[8]
: exaggeration - stretching the truth, to make something seem more powerful or meaningful than it actually is. : While Virginia did have a low crime rate, it was never the lowest in America.[8]
: misleading claim - a statement with a few elements or kernel of truth, which can easily be proven deceptive or fundamentally untrue. : The "economic plan" McAuliffe is talking about is no longer Youngkin's economic plan since August.[4]
: misleading claim - a statement with a few elements or kernel of truth, which can easily be proven deceptive or fundamentally untrue. : The "plan" McAuliffe keeps referring to, to eliminate the state income tax, has not been Youngkin's economic plan since August.[4]
: labeling - pigeon-holing a person or group into a simple category and assigning names and/or beliefs to that category. : Youngkin associates McAuliffe with Pinocchio, the storybook character famous for repeatedly telling lies.
: appeal to compromised authority - insisting something is true because an expert on the issue says it's true, when that expert has a vested interest in the outcome. : The author of the Jefferson Institute report was involved in a paid capacity with Republican members of Virginia’s General Assembly.[9]
: guilt by association - using an opponent's links to another to assign the other's beliefs, misdeeds, or other unattractive qualities to the opponent. : McAuliffe uses the endorsement of Youngkin by Trump to link Youngkin to Trump.
: straw man - misrepresenting an opponent's position or argument to make it easier to attack, usually by exaggerating, distorting, or just completely fabricating it. : While Youngkin did say "Trump represents so much of why I'm running," he didn't say "So much of the reason why I'm running is because of Donald Trump."[10]
: hyperbole - an extravagant statement or figure of speech used for effect, not intended to be taken literally. : Characterizing Youngkin's lack of support for mandating Covid-19 vaccinations as Youngkin's plan to "unleash Covid" on Virginians.
: out of context - removing a passage or quote from its surrounding context in such a way as to distort its intended meaning. : Youngkin was moderating a panel discussion at a Export-Import Bank conference, where he asked McAuliffe to explain to the audience how he goes about recruiting foreign businesses to Virginia.[11]
: cherry picking - presenting only evidence that confirms your position, while ignoring or withholding an often more significant portion that contradicts it. : Youngkin lists a presentation at a 2015 conference and a recommended book on the BOE website, while ignoring the absence of any direct evidence that CRT is being taught in any of the state’s 1,825 public schools.[12]
: dog whistle - ambiguous messaging used to stoke racial fear and anxiety and/or to covertly signal allegiance to certain subgroups of an audience. : "Critical Race Theory" could be signaling support for systemic racism by branding any institutional recognition of racial inequity in the U.S. as inherently racist and unAmerican.
: misleading claim - a statement with a few elements or kernel of truth, which can easily be proven deceptive or fundamentally untrue. : The "plan" McAuliffe is talking about is no longer Youngkin's plan since August.[4]
: guilt by association - using an opponent's links to another to assign the other's beliefs, misdeeds, or other unattractive qualities to the opponent. : McAuliffe uses the endorsement of Youngkin by Trump to link Youngkin to Trump.
: straw man - misrepresenting an opponent's position or argument to make it easier to attack, usually by exaggerating, distorting, or just completely fabricating it. : While Youngkin has expressed support for more abortion restrictions and campaigned on election integrity, he's never mentioned banning abortions or election integrity being his number 1 issue, and he said "Trump represents so much of why I'm running."[2][5][10]
Total number of techniques detected over the 56:28 runtime of this video clip:
PROPAGANDA TECHNIQUES
16 OCCURRENCES
adding qualifiers: dog whistle: fault as virtue: FUD: glittering generalities: guilt by association: hyperbole: labeling: muddy the waters: poisoning the well: whataboutism:
FALSEHOODS & DISTORTIONS
18 OCCURRENCES
appeal to compromised authority: baseless claim: cherry picking: exaggeration: half truth: misleading claim: out of context: post hoc: straw man:
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