whataboutism

plural whataboutisms

1. countablerhetoricuncountableA logical fallacy where criticisms are deflected by raising unrelated criticisms of the opposite side.

   what was known during Soviet times, as 'whataboutism'

   2017, Andreas Umland, “The Ukrainian Government's Memory Institute Against the West”, in IndraStra Global, volume 3, number 3, →ISSN, retrieved 04 Jul 2017, page 7

   5 more examples

   And I'd no time at all for 'What aboutism' - you know, people who said 'Yes, but what about what's been done to us? ... That had nothing to do with it, and if you got into it you were defending the indefensible.

   1994, Joe Austin, “The obdurate and the obstinate”, in Tony Parker, editors, May the Lord in His Mercy be Kind to Belfast, Henry Holt & Co, →ISBN, page 136

   Soviet propagandists during the cold war were trained in a tactic that their western interlocutors nicknamed 'whataboutism'.

   2008 January 31, Edward Lucas, “Whataboutism - Come again, Comrade?”, in The Economist, London: The Economist Group, →ISSN, →OCLC

   'Whataboutism' was a favourite tactic of Soviet propagandists during the old Cold War. Any criticism of the Soviet Union’s internal aggression or external repression was met with a 'what about?' some crime of the West, from slavery to the Monroe doctrine.

   2008 December 11, Staff writer, “The West is in danger of losing its moral authority”, in European Voice, retrieved 03 Jul 2017

   There's another attitude ... that many Russians seem to share, what used to be called in the Soviet Union 'whataboutism,' in other words, 'who are you to call the kettle black?'

   2016 August 24, Jill Dougherty, “Olympic doping ban unleashes fury in Moscow”, in CNN

   This particular brand of changing the subject is called 'whataboutism' — a simple rhetorical tactic heavily used by the Soviet Union and, later, Russia.

   2017 March 17, Danielle Kurtzleben, “Trump Embraces One Of Russia's Favorite Propaganda Tactics — Whataboutism”, in NPR, retrieved 20 May 2017

   Synonyms: tu quoque, whataboutery