Abstract
<jats:p>This paper examines the category of multiplicity and its role in the implementation of manipulative strategies of discrediting and legitimation. The article analyzes excerpts of news reports from leading American media outlets (The New York Times and Fox News) in English, primarily those dedicated to BRICS, the focus being on the strategies employed in the excerpts, particularly through a combination of verbal and nominal multiplicity. The goal of this study is to determine the role of the category of multiplicity in the implementation of manipulative strategies of discrediting and legitimation in socio-political discourse. The research is novel in that it identifies the role of the category of multiplicity and describes its mechanism in constructing accusation and justification frames within the strategies of discrediting and legitimation. The study revealed that varied expressions of the category of multiplicity serve to reinforce the functions of primary and secondary strategies of discrediting and legitimation, thereby giving rise to models of repetitive processes. In discrediting texts, multiplicity assumes a dominant role, with the objective of accusing or indicating an emerging threat. Conversely, in legitimizing texts, repeatability with fixed cycles and cause-and-effect relationships prevail.</jats:p>