Noncitizen voting, already illegal in federal elections, becomes a centerpiece of 2024 GOP messaging
AP's May 18, 2024 overview of noncitizen-voting rhetoric documented how a politically useful intuition about election fraud kept being treated as if it were established by the evidence. The report is especially useful for seeing how tiny counts, suggestive language, and moral urgency can be stretched into system-wide claims. The fallacy here is Argument from repetition: repetition is treated as if it adds evidence, wearing down doubt or making a claim seem true through familiarity. That matters here because a claim does not become better supported because it is repeated by the same speaker, echoed by many speakers, or circulated for a long time. A better analysis would remember that repetition changes familiarity, not the underlying evidence.
Associated Press · 2024-05-18
Top Haitian official denounces false claim, repeated by Trump, that immigrants are eating pets
AP's September 26, 2024 report on Haiti's transitional council president condemning the Springfield pet-eating rumor shows how quickly a sensational falsehood can travel from fringe posts to a presidential debate to the United Nations. The case is vivid enough to illustrate both emotional manipulation and the costs of repeating an unverified claim because it 'sounds like what the other side would do.' The fallacy here is Argument from repetition: repetition is treated as if it adds evidence, wearing down doubt or making a claim seem true through familiarity. That matters here because a claim does not become better supported because it is repeated by the same speaker, echoed by many speakers, or circulated for a long time. A better analysis would remember that repetition changes familiarity, not the underlying evidence.
Associated Press · 2024-09-26
Authorities rebut claims that Haitian immigrants are eating cats, waterfowl in Ohio town
PolitiFact's September 9, 2024 Springfield fact check is a neat example of a rumor built out of anonymous posts, recycled images, and suggestive repetition rather than verifiable support. It shows how easily a story can feel established before it has actually been checked. The fallacy here is Argument from repetition: repetition is treated as if it adds evidence, wearing down doubt or making a claim seem true through familiarity. That matters here because a claim does not become better supported because it is repeated by the same speaker, echoed by many speakers, or circulated for a long time. A better analysis would remember that repetition changes familiarity, not the underlying evidence.
PolitiFact · 2024-09-09
Biden tells Trump to 'get a life, man' and stop storm misinformation
AP's October 10, 2024 report on hurricane-response misinformation is a clean example of how disaster politics invites fear-based claims that spread faster than verification. The article is especially useful for showing how emotionally convenient numbers and slogans can be detached from what agencies actually said. The fallacy here is Argument from repetition: repetition is treated as if it adds evidence, wearing down doubt or making a claim seem true through familiarity. That matters here because a claim does not become better supported because it is repeated by the same speaker, echoed by many speakers, or circulated for a long time. A better analysis would remember that repetition changes familiarity, not the underlying evidence.
Associated Press · 2024-10-10
The Springfield, Ohio pet-eating rumor in September 2024 moved from rumor to national talking point largely through repetition across social media, cable segments, and campaign rhetoric even though local officials said there was no credible evidence. The fallacy here is Argument from repetition: repetition is treated as if it adds evidence, wearing down doubt or making a claim seem true through familiarity. That matters here because a claim does not become better supported because it is repeated by the same speaker, echoed by many speakers, or circulated for a long time. A better analysis would remember that repetition changes familiarity, not the underlying evidence.
