Strawman Fallacy
Substituting a person’s actual position with a distorted, exaggerated, or misrepresented version, then attacking that.
Why is this tempting?
Attacking a weaker version is easier than engaging the real argument, but it leaves the original position untouched.
People who don’t support the proposed state minimum wage increase hate the poor.
“You’re pro-choice? So you enjoy killing babies, I see.”
“You want to reduce the defense budget? You must hate the military and don’t support our soldiers.”
Redressing the fallacy
A strawman is the opposite of the principle of charity. Detach your ego from your argument and recognize a strawman misrepresents the argument, not you.