MODERATOR: What do you say to black voters who are disappointed with the progress so far?
BIDEN: I say, I don't blame them for being disappointed. Inflation is still hurting them badly. For example, I provided for the idea that any black family, first time home buyer should get a $10,000 tax credit to be able to buy their first home so they can get started.
President Biden argues that his administration has made significant progress for black Americans, citing the creation of small black businesses, reduction of black unemployment, and initiatives to cut childcare costs, which he claims have provided substantial benefits. While he acknowledges the achievements, his response may overlook the complexity of systemic issues still affecting black Americans, such as economic disparities and incarceration rates, suggesting an incomplete picture of overall progress.
1. straw man • Biden represents Trump as wanting to simply eliminate the ACA (aka "Obamacare"), despite that Trump has explicitly abandoned that position in favor of reforming the ACA.
...this guy wants to eliminate that. They tried 50 times. He wants to get rid of the ACA again, and they're going to try again if they win.
Trump has stated explicitly that this is not his position. Here is a message that Trump posted on social media on March 26th:
I’m not running to terminate the ACA... I’m running to... MAKE THE ACA, or OBAMACARE, AS IT IS KNOWN, MUCH BETTER, STRONGER, AND FAR LESS EXPENSIVE. IN OTHER WORDS, MAKE THE ACA MUCH, MUCH, MUCH BETTER FOR FAR LESS MONEY (OR COST) TO OUR GREST [sic] AMERICAN CITIZENS
Biden is right that Trump and other Republicans tried numerous times in the past to replace the ACA (perhaps not "50 times"), but that has not been the stated position of Trump during this current election cycle. Biden's concise and simplistic statement of Trump's position is likely to be, at the very least, misleading.
2. cherry picking • While it's valid for Biden to point out the positive aspects of his record, such as reducing black unemployment and childcare costs, and increasing support for black-owned businesses, it could be argued that he is cherry-picking data to some extent by not fully addressing the moderator's points about the ongoing disparities in maternal mortality and incarceration rates.
MODERATOR: President Biden, while black unemployment dropped to a record low under your presidency, black families still earn far less than white families. Black mothers are still three times more likely to die for pregnancy related causes. And black Americans are imprisoned at five times the rate of white Americans.
Biden leaves both of the latter two points unaddressed in his remarks. By focusing on his accomplishments and plans without directly confronting these persistent issues, Biden may be presenting a somewhat incomplete picture of the challenges still faced by black Americans.
Note that there being one or more apparent fallacies in the arguments presented in this article does not mean that every argument the arguer made was fallacious, nor does it mean there are not other arguments in existence for the same or similar position that are logically valid. Also note that checking for fallacies is not the same as verification of the premises the arguer starts from, such as facts that the arguer asserts or principles that the arguer assumes as the foundation for constructing arguments. For more about this, see our 'What is Fallacy Checking?'
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