Fallacy
Ad Hominem
Attack the person making the argument instead of the argument itself.
Attacking the person insteadThe argument itself
Attack the person making the argument instead of the argument itself.
Example
"You can't trust her opinion on the budget, she failed her own business twice."
An ad hominem attacks the source of a claim rather than the claim itself. A person’s history, character, or motives can be worth questioning, but they don’t make a specific number or fact wrong on their own.
The tell is a response that never engages with the actual figures or reasoning at all, only with who said them.
A person’s flaws don’t make their arithmetic incorrect. If the argument stands on its own evidence, attacking the messenger doesn’t touch it.