Why Poisoning the Well is such an effective fallacy for Trump

Trump poisons the well against Mueller and his team at CPAC 2019

Poisoning the Well is a kind of Ad Hominem fallacy where the attack on the person making a claim happens in advance.

By attributing negative traits to someone before they even have the chance to make their argument, the well poisoner primes the listener not to believe what they are about to hear. As it doesn’t attempt to address the actual argument at all, this reasoning is fallacious.

The fact that it is used before the target has a chance to speak makes it a particularly effective tool, as we discuss in this week’s Fallacious Trump.

Also in this episode — an interview with the brilliant Jen Briney, of the Congressional Dish Podcast

You can subscribe to the show and see the full Show Notes for this episode at fallacioustrump.com/…