The Shut-down Straw-man
The government has shut down. The Republicans do not have enough votes to end this shutdown, but the Democrats will not vote until expiring health care benefits are extended. The bill that will provide extended government spending will not pass without votes from Democrats. This is not politics as usual. A real problem has presented itself during this struggle. Republicans have claimed that the Democrats want to extend health coverage for illegal aliens. J.D. Vance has publicly stated this claim. Top Democrats have weighed in on this claim, refuting it as false.
A comparison of the two arguments could be made, but to what end? A simple observation can be made. Democrats have claimed they want to extend the health care subsidies under the Affordable Care Act. No Democrat has ever stated that they hope to provide health care to illegals. So where does this argument come from?
To make matters worse, a deepfake video posted by Donald Trump has emerged. A video of Hakeem Jeffries wearing a cartoon sombrero and a thick mustache while Mexican themed music playing in the background. J.D. Vance nor Trump have expressed any remorse for this bigoted post. J.D. Vance has further stated the video will be taken down when the shut down ends.
Herein lies a real danger with this type of argument. The straw-man fallacy. J.D. Vance, Donald Trump, and the Republicans have argued against a fake position. The position of Democrats wanting to extend health coverage to persons who are in America illegally. It is certainly understandable why they would object to this type of funding. The so called party of fiscal responsibility would not want to see health care monies set aside for US citizens misused. Where did this argument come from? Not the Democrats.
Perhaps the argument was to stir a knee-jerk reaction from those who harbor racist views against foreigners, and non-English speaking individuals. A high degree of emotional bias could mislead an unwary public. Thinking logically would prevent this. Political leaders trying to cash in on the fears of an unfortunate public poorly trained in spotting con men. Republicans hoping to take advantage of the ill-informed and overly emotional racists.
This would never work in an America that has citizens schooled in critical reasoning. If you do not see the straw-man. Look again.
Sources:
https://www.logicallyfallacious.com/logicalfallacies/Strawman-Fallacy