Logical Fallacies and the Trump Administration

Logical Fallacies and the Trump Adminstration Logical fallacies involve various reasoning errors resulting from flawed logical thinking; hence, the judgments or arguments resulting from such reasoning are insufficient. Logical fallacies also occur when conclusions contain different objects from those in their statements (Sjoberg, 2017).

Researchers and scientists may also argue their claims without proper reasoning, for instance, making a firm conclusion that one phenomenon's occurrence depends on the existence of a second phenomenon. Thus, if the second phenomenon exists, then the first one occurred. Such claims indicate logical fallacy since there is no rule providing that the first phenomenon will always follow the second phenomenon, even if the second always follows the first. In this paper, I will analyze the logical fallacies in the post Is Trump Trying to Take the Economy Down with Him? by Claudia Sahm, which she posted on November 20, 2020, in the New York Times magazine.

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LOGICAL FALLACIES2 Sahm's post has a logical fallacy of hasty generalization. She states, “Secretary Mnuchin's move comes just as President-elect Joe Biden is preparing to name his own Treasury secretary. Such a move fits a growing pattern of Mr. Trump's team, doing everything it can to undermine and kneecap the incoming administration's ability to crisis management.” From this statement, Sahm concludes that Mr. Trump has an objective of sabotaging Joe Biden’s administration by paralyzing its ability to control any form of crisis. The idea is a hasty generalization since Sahm has no adequate evidence that Mr. Trump can take such actions following his presidential election defeat. The Treasury secretary, Steven Mnuchin, to cancel the extension of emergency programs may impact economic sectors, but there is no certainty that it would. Thus, Sahn is making a hasty generalization without sufficient evidence.

The logical fallacy of appeal to authority also appears in Sahm’s post. Sahm argues that Mr. Trump is trying to take down the economy of the U.S because he lost the presidential election.

Even though TrumpTrump feared defeat and may have seemed unhappy with the loss, there is no evidence that he can act according to his emotions to sink the economy. Together with the Treasury Secretary, Mnuchin, refusing to extend the emergency programs for municipalities and medium-sized businesses, Sahm appeals to the Fed that it should begin preparing to control the looming crisis. Since the emergency programs to support states and other local governments contributed to their survival, their cancellation does not mean that the country will face a problem. Besides, controlling the Fed's situation will push them beyond its authority and may result in the assault on various institutions. Thus, the Fed may be good at managing other economic elements, but that does not guarantee that it can control a financial crisis.

Another logical fallacy that appears in Sahm’s post is the red herring fallacy. According to TBS Staff (2020), the red herring fallacy involves distracting the audience from the topic by

LOGICAL FALLACIES3 introducing an argument that is safer and easier to address. The post’s topic implies that as Mr. Trump is leaving the State House, he is attempting to sabotage the economy of the U.S. However, Sahm's discussion is about Secretary Mnuchin alerting the Fed that there will be no emergency programs extension. From her post, Sahm shows that it is the president who appoints Treasury Secretary and that Joe Biden would nominate a new Treasury secretary. Perhaps Secretary Mnuchin is only clearing out of the office to enable the next secretary to begin new operations and avoid confusion with the previous financial issues. Due to this, Sahm is diverting her argument from how Mr. Trump is attempting to take down the economy with him and arguing more on how lack of emergency programs’ extension could impact the U.S economy.

Thus, the logical fallacy of red herring is present in her post.

Claudia Sahm’s post also has a logical fallacy of false dilemma. The false dilemma analytical fallacy results when an argument has more options than the ones stated (TBS Staff, 2020). From Sahm’s post, she argues that since the country is approaching Inauguration, the Fed should prepare for controlling the economic situation that will occur due to the presidential transition.

She states further that the states of the U.S and the local communities will require the Fed's help.

Regarding her arguments, she implies that the presidential transition will result in a significant economic crisis that will need the Fed's help to solve. However, other outcomes may result from such a change, and the financial crisis may not even occur. Also, Sahm mentions that the new Treasury Secretary that President Joe Biden will appoint will be more likely to cooperate with the Fed in supporting the state and local governments more generously. The statement is fallacious since no one can be certain that the next Treasury Secretary will work with the Fed in a more generous way than Secretary Mnuchin did. Perhaps there can be further anticipated

LOGICAL FALLACIES4 outcomes of the Fed coordinating with a new secretary. Thus, Sahm’s arguments contain the false dilemma logical fallacy.

The post by Claudia Sahm has various logical fallacies, including the hasty generalization, where she argues that TrumpTrump is taking down the economy with him without sufficient evidence to support her argument. She also claims that the Fed has a reputation for managing difficult financial situations; hence, it should prepare to address a looming economic crisis; this indicates the logical fallacy of appeal to authority. Additionally, the post has a red herring logical fallacy since Sahm diverts her argument from how TrumpTrump is taking down the economy with his and focuses on the impact of not extending the emergency programs for municipalities and medium-sized businesses. Perhaps Mr. Trump did not even participate in this decision. The false dilemma also appears in the post; some of Sahm’s arguments may have more options than she mentions.

Moreover, her opinion on Mr. Trump's contribution to a possible economic crisis seems to have a logical fallacy of appeal to ignorance. Perhaps she thinks that if there is no proof that a loser in a presidential election cannot sabotage the economy, then it must be true that they can. Such thoughts have no evidence. Thus, Claudia Sahm’s post contains logical fallacies.

LOGICAL FALLACIES5 References Sahm, C. (2020). Opinion | Is Trump Trying to Take the Economy Down with Him? Nytimes.com. Retrieved November 21, 2020, from https://www.nytimes.com/2020/11/20/opinion/trump-transition-fed-markets.html? auth=linked-google.

Sjoberg, E. A. (2017). Logical fallacies in animal model research. Behavioral and Brain Functions, 13(1), 1-13. Retrieved November 21, 2020, from https://behavioralandbrainfunctions.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/s12993-0170121-8 TBS Staff. (2020). 15 Logical Fallacies You Should Know Before Getting into a Debate.

TheBestSchools.org. Retrieved November 21, 2020, from https://thebestschools.org/magazine/15-logical-fallacies-know/.