A Politician Has Regularly Made Public Statements That He Does

Multiple Choice

A politician has regularly made public statements that he does not believe climate change is real, and that the government should not pass any laws that more strictly regulate industrial emissions because doing so would threaten the economy. However, it is election season, and the politician is campaigning by attending town hall meetings all around the country. At one of these meetings, a concerned voter asks "Senator, I am very concerned about the environment and if I'm going to vote for you then I need to know what you will do to help save it. What are your plans if elected?" To make this person happy, the Senator doesn't go into details about his other plans and simply replies, "I care about the environment too, and will take every step I can to ensure it is protected." The voter who asked the question isn't convinced, because she thinks the Senator is just telling her what she wants to hear, and he actually doesn't plan to do anything to help. This means she doesn't trust the Senator because of the perception of ____________.

A) A reporting bias
B) An abuse of authority
C) A knowledge bias
D) Low response efficacy