Propaganda Techniques

whataboutism - discrediting a criticism by accusing hypocrisy, in order to shift the focus away from oneself and onto others.

- discrediting a criticism by accusing hypocrisy, in order to shift the focus away from oneself and onto others.
: Meadows shifts the focus from Trump not doing enough to stop Russian interference in the 2016 election to Obama not doing enough to stop Russian interference in the 2016 election.

08:16: whataboutism

- discrediting a criticism by accusing hypocrisy, in order to shift the focus away from oneself and onto others.
: Gorka shifts the focus from Don Jr. meeting with a Russian lawyer to get dirt on Clinton to a DNC consultant meeting with Ukrainian officials to get dirt on Manafort.^[4]

37:03: whataboutism

- discrediting a criticism by accusing hypocrisy, in order to shift the focus away from oneself and onto others.
: Kaine shifts the focus from an offensive thing Clinton said on the campaign trail to offensive things Trump said on the campaign trail.^[7]

Interviews related to whataboutism

Dr. Axel Barcelo discusses when a "whataboutism" isn't a whataboutism.

Producer: Matthew Werman
Published: April 14, 2021

Articles related to whataboutism

Whataboutism: When calling out hypocrisy is just a diversion.

By: Håkon Syrrist and Michael Gordon
Published: May 02, 2023

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whataboutism - discrediting a criticism by accusing hypocrisy, in order to shift the focus away from oneself and onto others.