I should have added this isn't the only rhetorical trick. Another one is to suddenly gain a strong protective sense over a vulnerable group and overplay threats to them from the minorities people need to give themselves permission to hate. Children are the usual pick as they're so universal, everyone's at least been a kid even if they don't have any in their lives.
So we end up with: "Nothing against muslims, I'm sure most are fine but they do seem to form all these grooming gangs to abduct and traffic runaway kids on the streets. Maybe we should be concerned."
and
"Nothing against trans people, I'm sure most are fine but so much exposure to it is muddling children's minds and they want access to drugs and surgery at too young an age. Maybe we should be concerned."
Luckily I'm not in danger of falling into that sort of trap myself... I can't stand kids.
