Biden argues that climate change is an existential threat to humanity and that his administration has taken significant steps to address it, such as passing extensive legislation, rejoining the Paris Climate Accord, and setting ambitious pollution reduction goals. While his arguments demonstrate a clear focus on the importance of combating climate change, his assertion that it is the sole existential threat to humanity is a false dilemma that oversimplifies the complex reality of global risks.

1. false dilemma • Biden asserts that climate change is the one and only threat to the flourishing of the human species globally:

The only existential threat to humanity is climate change.

Biden's statement presents a false dilemma because it suggests that besides climate change, there are no existential threats at all. By framing the issue in this binary way, Biden oversimplifies the complex reality of global risks. While climate change is indeed a critical issue that demands urgent action, other threats such as nuclear war, pandemics, or even artificial intelligence could also pose significant dangers to human existence.

A more accurate and nuanced statement would acknowledge that climate change is one of several major threats to humanity, and that addressing it should be a top priority alongside other efforts to mitigate global risks. By presenting a false choice between focusing solely on climate change or ignoring existential threats altogether, Biden's statement falls into the trap of the false dilemma fallacy.

While the fallacy itself is not the core of his argument on climate change, it does serve a strategic purpose in the context of the debate. By presenting climate change as the singular existential threat to humanity, Biden is able to focus the discussion on an issue where he believes his position is stronger and more well-developed compared to Trump's.

Meanwhile, Biden can avoid engaging with other potential existential risks like nuclear war or pandemics, where his argumentative position might be less robust or where Trump could potentially challenge him more effectively.