It was named after the ship, <em>Mayflower,</em> which is the ship the English colonist used to arrive to America.
The word used for such statements as described here is sensationalist.
Explanation:
Sensationalist statements are those that are designed to gauge reactions out of people and not necessarily raise the level of, or contribute onto any meaningful discussion in any way.
The statement has no semblance of facts to back it up and is often very exaggerated form of a truth that has been convoluted beyond its sense so it serves only to rile people up and not to make them discuss things.
It is often used in rhetoric to drive the points away from discussion and make speeches out of debates.
C. Just had this question myself
The root word in educate is ate.
The words here with ate in it is duplicate. I don't see any other words with the root word ate in it.