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Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region ForumsLeave Hillary Clinton out of this
I thought about this after spending much of today reading the online comments following various news articles about President-elect Trump. Too many people with excellent points about Donald Trump got lost in tangential arguments thrown up by Trump supporters (or Russian trolls, who knows?), and too often the excellent points about Trump got lost in the arguing.
One way I've seen to counter Trump supporters who crash Trump discussions on places like Facebook with "But what about Hillary..." is to just tell the "but what about Hillary" interloper that Donald Trump has won and Hillary Clinton has lost. They won't listen to a reasoned defense of Mrs. Clinton, they won't buy your popular vote argument, they won't buy anything reasonable you have to say about Hillary Clinton. Defending against the "but what about Hillary.." diversion steers the argument wildly away from your main point onto endless tangents. It's better to take her out of the discussion right away. Although few Trump supporters will listen to your reasoned attack on Mr. Trump, it's easier to keep them quiet after a "leave Hillary Clinton out of this." (And after you dismiss Hillary Clinton, always ask a question that they have to answer.)
Trump detractor: I can't believe that Donald Trump thinks it's good for white nationalist Steve Bannon to be anywhere near the White House.
Clinton detractor: What about Hillary? She supported that racist senator, Robert Byrd.
Trump detractor: Hillary Clinton lost. Donald Trump won. He will be the next president. Leave Clinton out of this. Do you think it's OK for a racist like Steve Bannon to be one of Donald Trump's top advisors?
pnwmom
(108,990 posts)Trump will be the President, not Hillary."
But then you get into that argument. It that's not your main point, it does no good to get into that argument. It's a tangent and you're dragged away from getting Trump supporter to defend Bannon's racism (in the example).
pnwmom
(108,990 posts)teach1st
(5,935 posts)Trump won. Clinton lost. Let's stick to the point. Do you support a racist Steve Bannon as one of Mr. Trump's top advisors?
TreasonousBastard
(43,049 posts)We've been through all the arguments and potentials during the campaign, and the asshole still managed to win so there's little point rehashing his negatives.
Better to look at what he does, and constantly point out his gaffes, mistakes, and just plain ignorance. One of the things that defeated Hillary was the constant negativity-- everything negative, even the lies and falsehoods, were repeated often enough that they slowly became the truth.
Trump has very little actual support and was elected with a minuscule margin (negative margin, actually) by people who pretty much gave up mainstream politics and figured why not give this guy a shot at fixing things... As it becomes clear he has no clue, he will become marginalized and, hopefully, destroyed.