For all his endless rambling nonsense, Donald Trump's message can be boiled down to a simple lie: If one group of people does well, it must necessarily be at the expense of another. Zero-sum thinking is literally classified as a logical fallacy, and the reason why should be obvious given a moment's thought. If your neighbor buys a new car, for instance, it doesn't mean you can't have one. Trump's relentless repetition of the zero-sum fallacy, however, has sadly convinced many voters that two groups of people are at odds with each other: men and women.
In a poll of swing states in early September, CBS News found many voters see this as a "girls v. boys" election. In Michigan, 77% of voters believe Vice President Kamala Harris is for women's interests, but only 55% believe she will work for men. A whopping 81%, however, believe Trump is for men's interests, though most — 54% — correctly understand Trump is against women. Pennsylvania and Wisconsin voters showed similar results, with large numbers of voters believing a candidate could be for men or women but not both.
