Whataboutism: The Right Needs to Use Better Arguments to Defend Trump
Whataboutism is widely used by President Trump and his supporters, but it doesn’t have to become a part of mainstream political discourse.
On Wednesday, December 19th 2018, President Donald Trump made a surprise announcement via Twitter that U.S. troops would be withdrawn from Syria. The announcement caught officials from across the government and military off guard and lacked many of the usual formalities associated with previous presidential announcements of troop withdrawals. Unlike such announcements in the past, the White House had not scheduled any presidential remarks nor had the administration provided any concrete details about the decision by the end of the day on Wednesday. The lack of forewarning left the nation in a state of shock.
“It’s hard to imagine that any president would wake up and make this kind of decision with this little communication, with this little preparation,” Senate Foreign Relations chairman Bob Corker said. “I mean, my understanding is that we’re beginning to move out right now.”
The next day, in yet another surprise development, Secretary of Defense James Mattis resigned, citing irreconcilable policy…
