General Discussion

Kablooie

(18,707 posts) Fri Sep 6, 2024, 11:41 PM Sep 6

I'm wondering how Harris will debate Trump.

How do you debate when your opponent just spews a firehouse of lies and outlandish fantasies as if they were real?
You can’t just deny them all, that would let Trump control the show, but you can’t let them stand either.
How do you take control of a debate this kind of situation?
It is a puzzlement.

10 replies

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I'm wondering how Harris will debate Trump. (Original Post) Kablooie Sep 6 OP

His "style" is known as the Gish Gallop. pat_k Sep 6 #1

Share your concern CommonHumanity Sep 6 #2

I actually expect Kamala is going to nail him while she is laughing. OAITW r.2.0 Sep 6 #3

Smartly. elleng Sep 7 #4

She Should Call Him A Liar In Her Opening Statement....... global1 Sep 7 #5

She might be able to disarm his by Inkey Sep 7 #7

I wish, after a Trump tirade, she could say.. Kablooie Sep 7 #6

Trump can't debate. WarGamer Sep 7 #8

During the Biden debate edhopper Sep 7 #9

TFG will be using the Gish Gallop tonight LetMyPeopleVote Tuesday #10

pat_k

(10,253 posts)

1. His "style" is known as the Gish Gallop.

Reply to Kablooie (Original post)

Fri Sep 6, 2024, 11:47 PM

Sep 6

And it does present unique challenges.

The Atlantic
How to Beat Trump in a Debate
Unprepared and weak-willed opponents continue to play right into his hands.
By Mehdi Hasan
February 16, 2023

Donald Trump is probably unaware that he’s an avid practitioner of a debating method known among philosophers and rhetoricians as the Gish Gallop. Its aim is simple: to defeat one’s opponent by burying them in a torrent of incorrect, irrelevant, or idiotic arguments. Trump owes much of his political success to this tactic—and to the fact that so few people know how to beat it. Although his 2024 campaign has been fairly quiet so far, we can expect to hear a lot more Gish Galloping in the coming months.

Let’s take as an example the first televised presidential debate of the 2020 election campaign. The Fox News host Chris Wallace invited Trump to deliver a two-minute statement. And he was off:
snip

Trump’s statement was the oratorical equivalent of the media-management approach famously summed up by Trump’s former strategist Steve Bannon—“flood the zone with shit.”

As one pithy tweet—now known as “Brandolini’s law”—put it, “The amount of energy needed to refute bullshit is an order of magnitude bigger than to produce it.” The Gish Galloper’s entire strategy rests on exploiting this advantage. By the time you’ve begun preparing your rebuttal of the Galloper’s first lie, they’ve rattled off another dozen. They want to trick the audience into believing that the facts and the evidence are on their side. (They have so many examples!) The technique is based on delivery over depth. Some call it “proof by verbosity.”
. . .

The article goes on to provide ways to deal with a gish galloper. I'm sure she'll be prepared for it. I'll be watching for the techniques.

Paywall-free link
https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2023/02/donald-trump-debate-strategy-gish-gallop/673061/?gift=CiksPDoBurvFhUHnw_O61nOv2FePkuP8hFxKtW8dwfI&utm_source=copy-link&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=share

CommonHumanity

(263 posts)

2. Share your concern

Reply to Kablooie (Original post)

Fri Sep 6, 2024, 11:49 PM

Sep 6

This is exactly what I'm wondering. How do you debate a firehose of lies? I'm nervous, but Kamala is pretty savvy and I imagine she knows what to expect.

OAITW r.2.0

(27,011 posts)

3. I actually expect Kamala is going to nail him while she is laughing.

Reply to Kablooie (Original post)

Fri Sep 6, 2024, 11:59 PM

Sep 6

Take him out after his 1st 2 minutes of pure BS. Ridicule and Mockery is gonna do Trump in.

elleng

(134,701 posts)

4. Smartly.

Reply to Kablooie (Original post)

Sat Sep 7, 2024, 12:01 AM

Sep 7

She knows it won't be a 'debate.'

Rules already established, follow them; slip in useful info about her experience and history when time allows.

global1

(25,750 posts)

5. She Should Call Him A Liar In Her Opening Statement.......

Reply to Kablooie (Original post)

Sat Sep 7, 2024, 12:05 AM

Sep 7

Go on the offense.

When he makes an incoherent statement. She should say I really don't understand your answer - can you expound on it - or can you explain it to me again?

Keep him talking so he continues to trip up on his words and makes things even more incoherent.

Expose him and his lack of understanding of the issues.

In other words make him look even sillier or weirder than he is.

Inkey

(288 posts)

7. She might be able to disarm his by

Reply to global1 (Reply #5)

Sat Sep 7, 2024, 01:21 AM

Sep 7

Stating the truth ; i.e. telling him he is not making sense , why won't he answer the questions , start planning your retirement Done , ask him about his golf game , tell him to wipe his nose , tell him a joke ...

Kablooie

(18,707 posts)

6. I wish, after a Trump tirade, she could say..

Reply to Kablooie (Original post)

Sat Sep 7, 2024, 12:57 AM

Sep 7

Wow! That’s impressive. It’s astounding how much bullshit you can dump from your mouth.
Now back to the real debate…

WarGamer

(14,235 posts)

8. Trump can't debate.

Reply to Kablooie (Original post)

Sat Sep 7, 2024, 01:32 AM

Sep 7

He has neither the mental firepower or the adaptability to perform.

If Trump had skill... he would "redirect" every attack line from VP Harris.

Harris: "And his 34 felony convictions..."

Trump: "The VP wants to talk about me, but she doesn't want to talk about the fact that Americans can't afford to buy a car or a new home today. The American dream has been destroyed in four short years by the Biden-Harris administration."

But fortunately... Trump is an idiot. He has no intellectual flexibility or ability to change tactics.

He will just be typical Trump and spout endless lies and think that he won after the debate.

So my advice to VP Harris?

Don't get too "worked up". A few eye rolls and smiles are sufficient when he's spewing. Have a limited number of "digs" you must get in.

Touch the felony convictions, the sexual assault judgement, Jan. 6, Project 2025 and Roe.

Memorize numbers and specific facts to contrast with Trump.

Be Presidential.

She will win but I doubt it matters.

edhopper

(34,413 posts)

9. During the Biden debate

Reply to Kablooie (Original post)

Sat Sep 7, 2024, 01:48 AM

Sep 7

I could think of responses, like,
" You know he just lied...."
or " You notice he did not really answer the question asked"
"But this is what we will do..."

LetMyPeopleVote

(151,829 posts)

10. TFG will be using the Gish Gallop tonight

Reply to Kablooie (Original post)

Tue Sep 10, 2024, 08:11 PM

Tuesday

Link to tweet

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