Logical Fallacies In The Election Of 2016

As most people who kept up with it recall, the presidential election of 2016 was intense, controversial, and dividing. The election held enough power to strain relationships and break up families. The race was close, and the candidates had extremely opposing views. Even though it has been called the “worst election ever,” the 2016 election was not the first to feature embarrassingly bold personal attacks and blatant insults. The candidates, logical fallacies, and public views that made up the 2016 presidential election closely resemble those of presidential election of 1800. In 1800, four candidates ran for president. The two most well-known candidates were Thomas Jefferson, the main author of the Declaration of Independence, and John Adams. Adams, the second United States president, was running for re-election. The two

Similarly, in the 2016 election, there were 4 candidates. Hillary Clinton, the former First Lady and Secretary of State, and Donald Trump, a businessman and television personality (“Donald J. Trump”), were the more popular candidates. Jill Stein and Gary Johnson, the lesser known candidates had little to no media coverage, the same way Aaron Burr and Charles Cotesworth Pinckney were in the background of the 1800 election. In addition to the candidates, the staunch debates and logical fallacies used in the 2016 election parallel those used in the election of 1800. Leading up to the election, Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump, the presidential candidates for the 2016 election, frequently had heated electoral debates. These debates often steered off topic as each candidate would