# 27. Rhetorical manipulation ## 27.5. Methodology/Refinements/Sub-species ### 27.5.3. Attacking Approach #### 27.5.3.10. Laugh it off / Downplay Similar to, and perhaps a subcategory of, ridicule. This is when one meets an accusation head on and laughs it off. This can be done in combination with straw man arguments. One illustration might be when President Obama of the USA laughed off the Neo-con idea that he was "engaging in some sort of Bolshevik plot." ***Parent:** [[Attacking Approaches]]*