How Long Can Donald Trump's Art of Deflection Work?
"Whataboutism" is running rampant in the White House these days.
What's that, you may ask? It's a Cold War-era term for a form of logical jiu-jitsu that helps you to win arguments by gently changing the subject.
When Soviet leaders were questioned about human rights violations, for example, they might come back with, "Well, what about the Negroes you are lynching in the South?"
That's not an argument, of course. It is a deflection to an entirely different issue. It is a naked attempt to excuse your own wretched behavior by painting your opponent as a hypocrite. But in the fast-paced world of media manipulation, the Soviet leader could get away with it merely by appearing to be strong and firm in defense of his country.
So it is with President Donald Trump and the buffer of spokespersons he sends forth to explain what he "really meant" in his tweets and other hastily delivered statements that backfire against him later.
We could hear it Sunday in White House Deputy Press Secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders' defense of her boss' assertion by Twitter tweet that former President Barack Obama ordered a wiretap of Trump's phones.
Instead of evidence -- which she apparently did not have -- to back up the claim, she insisted that all Trump wanted was "a closer look" at the allegation.
"The New York Times, the BBC have also talked about and reported on the potential of this having had happened," Sanders said on ABC's "This Week." "All we're saying is let's take a closer look...."
In other words, what about the allegation? Forget about the alligator, uh, allegation maker.
Visibly frustrated, Martha Raddatz, the program's co-anchor, responded, "If, if, if, if! Why is the president saying it did happen?"
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