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Sarah Roberson and Makayla Maturo

Roberson, Maturo 1

Professor Blair
UWRT 1103 - 023
1 March 2016
Moore Writes to Trump

Michael Moore is a political writer who favors the left-wing. He often uses fallacies to try
and prove his points through biased letters to political figures about their policies and speeches.
In this letter, Moore is writing to Trump about a meeting they had years prior to Trump joining
the presidential race. And in his letter, Moore attacks Trump for his views on Muslim people
and the actions Trump would like to take, if elected, to not allow Muslim people to enter the
U.S. Moore uses the dialogue to help him prove his point. And, later in the letter Moore talks
about Trumps views on Muslims and tries to sway our opinion so we agree with Moore as
opposed to Trump. Moores article tries to argue against Trump with a number of fallacies
including red herring, and ad hominem as well as subclaims for ad hominem such as name
calling and sarcasm..
Moore uses the fallacy of red herring quite prominently in his letter to Trump; it is even
how Moore starts his letter. According to Nancy Wood, red herring, provides irrelevant
and misleading support that pulls the reader away from the real argument, (Wood 2).
Instead of talking about policy, or stating facts Moore does not bring up his main topic, but
tries to cloud our vision by talking about his experience meeting Trump. Before appearing
on a talkshow with Trump Moore says, ...I was pulled aside by a producer from the show
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who said that [Trump] was nervous about being on the set with [Moore] (Moore, par. 1).
This recount continues for seven paragraphs. Moore is trying to distract us with a less than
impressive story of Trump instead of talking about the main issue. The story makes Trump
look bad, and Moore probably thinks that starting the letter on this note will put us in the
frame of mind that is negative towards Trump. Thus making us more likely to disagree
with Trum subconsciously as we read the rest of Moore's letter. Moore continues to not talk
about Trumps views on the Muslim people by saying, We are all Muslim. Just as we are all
Mexican, we are all Catholic and Jewish and white and black and every shade in between,
(Moore, par. 12-13). Again, Moore is talking about something irrelevant to the main topic.
The Telegraph has Trump quoted from one of his speeches saying, They're not coming to this
country if I'm president. And if Obama has brought some to this country they are leaving, they're
going, they're gone (Crilly, par. 5). But, instead of talking about that, or picking one of the
many incriminating quotes from Trump, Moore is trying to again stray from the topic.
Moore is trying to say we are all equal, which is encouraging, but it does not have anything
to do with Trumps views on the Muslim people. By essentially saying we are equal Moore
is trying to put us in the subconscious mindset of acceptance,so we see anything else Moore
has to say about Trumps views as offensive and wrong.
Another fallacy that Moore uses is ad hominem. Ad hominem is an,...argument that
attacks a person's character rather than a person's ideas.The character issue, for example,
may receive more attention than more serious, substantial issues (Wood 3). In the letter, Moore
recounts the first time he talked Trump before a talk show. Moore said Trump didnt want to be
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ripped apart and [Trump] wanted to be reassured [Moore] wouldnt go after [him] (Moore
1). In this, Moore is trying to attack Trumps character rather than his policies by implying Trump
is insecure because he is worried about what Moore will say and asks to talk before the show.
Moore is also trying to make Trump seem weak with phrases like ripped apart and go after
[him]. These phrases evoke images of prey being attacked by a larger animal by which the prey
will be defeated. Moore is trying to get us to associate Trump with a weak animal so we are less
likely to put our trust in someone who is not strong. Political figures can sometimes be seen as
celebrities, so it can be unnerving to know that they need to be reassured like Moore said he
did. Moore goes at Trumps character again when he says, ...leave the rest of us alone so we can
elect a real president who is both compassionate and strong - at least strong enough not to be all
whiny and scared of some guy in a ballcap from Michigan sitting next to him on a talk show
couch (Moore, par. 14). Here Moore is trying to say that Trump does not care about the citizens,
and is again trying to call Trump put for being weak. Moore also uses words like whiny and
scared to give us the image of Trump as a child, which is again something else that is seen as
weak, like prey. Moore also says, Youre not so tough, Donny, and Im glad I got to see the real
you up close and personal all those years ago (Moore, par. 14). Here, Moore calls Trump
Donny in an attempt to condescend and and again make us think of Trump as a child.
Moore is also trying to have us believe that Trump is not who we think he is. An article from
The New Yorker talks about a situation with Trump where, In 2000, during a family dispute
about the details of his fathers will, Trump, who was by then fabulously wealthy in his own
right, cut off benefits from the family health plan that were paying for the medical care of his
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nephews seriously ill young son.Even when it comes to a sick baby in his family, Donald
Trump is all business (Cassidy, par. 2). This illustrates how people may tend to see Trump, as a
tough, cold man, but Moore is trying to make him appear the opposite by attacking Trumps
character instead of his policies.
Another example of ad hominem found in Moores letter to Trump would be name
calling. Name calling can be a form of ad hominem because they both are using abusive
language to damn the source. When Trump was afraid to meet with Moore, he stated I was
struck by how you, a self-described tough guy from Queens, seemed like such a fraidey-cat.
(Moore, par. 7). He then later referred to Trump as a Wuss (Moore, par.8) when the interview
was over. Moore used these words to show Trump as weak and nervous.
One more example of ad hominem found is sarcasm throughout the entirety of his letter
to Trump. By definition sarcasm is the use of irony to mock or convey contempt. In his letter,
Moore belittles Trump and clearly shows his feelings and disregard towards anything Trump has
to say or any ideas. Moore takes what happened in the past to describe the present and how he
sees Trump today, And now, here we are in 2015 and, like many other angry white guys, you
are frightened by a bogeyman who is out to get you. That bogeyman, in your mind, are all
Muslims. Not just the ones who have killed, but ALL MUSLIMS. (Moore, par. 9). By saying
this, Moore is downsizing Trump as a person and making him appear small and scared with no
idea on how to handle the situation but to just blame a whole race. Another instance where
Moore is sarcastic about Trump is when he first starts off his letter and Trump was afraid of him.
Trump did not want to have an interview with him because he thought he would point out
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something ridiculous and in which case Moore thought Pick on you? I thought, where are we,
in 3rd grade? (Moore, par. 7). Moore is depicting Trump as an insecure child, afraid of what
secrets may be told about him. This isnt the only time that Trump has been nervous to interview
with someone. Fox news reported that Trump has complained that Fox host Megyn Kelly, one
of the debate moderators, would be unfair to him. (Campbell, par.2). Moore is not the only one
that views this side of Trump and likes to put it on display.
In Conclusion, Moore uses a variety of fallacies in his writings to make sure that what he
is trying to prove or point out comes across to the reader. In his letter moore points out how
Trump is against the race as a whole because of the past attacks. Trump has even said he
wants to cut the head of isis by banning all muslims from entering the border (Vice, Par.
1). In this letter to Trump, Moore used red herring, ad hominem and the sub claims of namecalling and sarcasm. While Moore is arguing against Trump and his qualities, he is not the only
one. Moore just tends to take a harsher approach to his work as to engage the reader more and
make them see his side and to hopefully agree with him. The way he used all these fallacies in
his letter, he created a pretty persuasive piece that helped him fully get his point across.

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