Read through President Trump’s speech on “Unleashing American Energy Event”.

What
examples of fallacy are present, and how does it impact his message?

● “The truth is that we have near-limitless supplies of energy in our country. Powered by
new innovation and technology, we are now on the cusp of a true energy revolution.”
○ The claim that we have near-limitless supplies of energy is a fallacy in Trump’s
speech. Due to the overuse of our energy we have begun to decrease the amount
we have left. Trump also brings no statistics or examples to back up the fact that
we have limitless amounts of energy due to technology. This will affect his
message because it brings the audience under the impression that there is in fact
no problem with the increasing consumption of energy, which is false, to turn
them towards his point of view.

● “We are really in the driving seat. And you know what? We don’t want to let other
countries take away our sovereignty and tell us what to do and how to do it. That’s not
going to happen. (Applause.) With these incredible resources, my administration will
seek not only American energy independence that we’ve been looking for so long, but
American energy dominance.”
○ In this quote you see how Trump sways away from Climate change and instead
turns his audience towards economic development and patriotism. He does this by
relating to the audience using ‘our’ and ‘us’ he talks about how energy will be
their path to dominance. This affects his message because he paints the energy
sources as a way to economic success instead of focusing on the problem of
climate change and the reduction of energy sources. He also confides in
connecting to the audience making them think he wants to benefit them by using
third person pronouns.

● “But this full potential can only be realized when the government promotes energy
development...instead of obstructing it like the Democrats. They obstruct it. But we get
through it. We cannot have obstruction”
○ Trump bashes the Democrats and undermines their abilities simply because they
are not part of his political party. This shows how his argument needed help by
bringing the other party down to portray his party in a better light. This affects his
message by gaining support from like-minded voters.