Examples of Faulty Comparison Logic

• In this article, popular media commentator Piers Morgan comments, "I've never met a conservative." This is an example of an over generalization, whereby the author has drawn a conclusion based on too little data. For this statement to carry meaning, Morgan would have to know the political tendencies of every person he has ever met.

• This article provides several examples of President Trump's claims about the US economy. For example, Trump tweet. "You know, we have the best economy we've ever had, in the history of our country." This is an example of faulty logic. It overgeneralizes the strength of the US economy. To make this comment, Trump would have to compare similar data points from every economy US economy in history.

• The opening sentence in this article states, "President Trump has repeatedly claimed that the rise in coronavirus cases in the United States is because of more widespread testing." This is an example of an illogical conclusion. It is illogical to draw the conclusion that the number of people infected with COVID-19 is related to the amount of testing the US is doing. Testing has no influence on transmission rates. As the article explains, "While testing more people does identify more cases, rates of positive tests are rising even faster. Experts say the surging numbers being seen in many states are due to an actual increase in illnesses, and hospitals are filling up with COVID-19 patients."

• This article draws several conclusions relating to illegal immigrants. It argues that allowing illegal immigrants to obtain a driver's license in the state of Massachusetts would be a threat to public safety. This is an example of an illogical conclusion. The unlawful act of entering a country does not mean that the person entering the country is a dangerous criminal. In fact, there have been numerous articles written that acknowledge the majority of illegal immigrants in the US are, in all other respects, law-abiding citizens. The act of obtaining a driver's license to drive legally on the roads in the US would more logically support the conclusion that illegal immigrants want to be law-abiding citizens, not that they are dangerous criminals.

• This article discusses President Trump's statements that the Chinese government is responsible for the spread of COVID-19 and, as a result, should be held responsible for the pandemic. This is an example of faulty logic because it implies that because the virus was first observed in China and the Chinese government failed to contain the virus within their borders, they are responsible for the pandemic. The article includes over generalizations and illogical conclusions. It fails to consider the failure of other countries to control the spread of the virus within their own borders, attributing the spread to China's failure to stop international travel when they first observed the virus.

• This article cites several occasions during the Presidential campaign when Joe Biden has misquoted statistics or made in error in names in the heat of the moment. The article concludes that these errors are a sign of Joe Biden's mental decline. The article, in effect, replaces logical argument with attack-language unrelated to the truth of the matter. It is what is known as an ad hominem insofar as it "rejects or criticizes another person's view based on personal characteristics, background, physical appearance, or other features irrelevant to the argument at issue."

• This article discusses President Trump's claim that allowing mail-in votes will lead to voter fraud, and that would give Joe Biden a post in the race to become the next President. This is an example of an illogical conclusion as there is no evidence to suggest that mail-in voting leads to fraud or that Biden would be the benefactor. It also shows a personal bias by Trump against his Democratic opponent. Both of these factors mean the statements are examples of faulty logic.

• The statement in this article attributing the lower number of illegal border crossings with the construction of the wall is an example of an illogical conclusion. There have been a number of other immigration policies that have been instigated over the last few years, including returning Mexicans to Mexico while awaiting asylum hearings. To say that reduced illegal crossings are attributable to the wall is an illogical conclusion, especially given only 365 miles of wall has been built of which all but 15 miles replaced existing barriers.