What About Whataboutism?

Many of us first heard the term "whataboutism" during the 2016 election. Any criticism of Trump's corruption, dallying with the Russians, or anything else was often met with the cry of "What about her emails?" It was often dismissed as a "fake logical fallacy" by Trump supporters, but as it turns out, it's a very real logical fallacy. It's a variation of the Tu Quoque fallacy, which is Latin for "you too". Tu Quoque is itself a subtype of the ad hominem fallacy, by which the person making an argument is attacked, rather than the argument itself. Whataboutism can also be a red herring, which is communication meant to distract from the topic. In general whataboutism is used to deflect criticism by pointing out that someone that the critic supports (sometimes the critic themself) is guilty of the same thing. 

Is it a legitimate rhetorical retort?

Maybe.

It depends.

I can see where in a political argument if you're criticizing a politician for something and your interlocutor points out that you support other politicians who do the exact same thing, it could be that you're being accused of hypocrisy. Or it could be that the person defending the politician that you're accusing doesn't really believe that your accusation is all that serious; after all, everyone is doing it. In neither case does the existence of others guilty of the same infraction excuse the original person's infraction. What I often hear when I point out whataboutism is that the "whatabouter" is simply "telling the truth". Let's look at a real life example:

* "President Trump" spews hate, he said that he hates all Democrats and that they're all evil"

* "Oh yeah, well Democrats says hateful stuff too"

* "What does that have to do with anything? Why are you excusing Trump's hate speech?"

* "I'm just telling the truth, Democrats do say hateful things"

You have to follow up with these kinds of statements. Sure, it's "the truth"; Democrats do say hateful things, but what is the purpose of bringing it up in this conversation? (And you can use any political topic: executive orders, immigration enforcement, presidential pardons - same pattern) Is the responder trying to make the point that you are hypocritical for pointing fingers? If so, it doesn't change the fact that Trump did what he is being accused of. Is the responder trying to excuse the action? If this is the case then he is either admitting that it was okay when the other guy did it, or it wasn't okay when Trump did it. 

Look, I know I'm getting in the tangled weeds of rhetoric here, but the point is that whataboutism is a deflection, it's a ploy to take the focus away from what you're pointing out and direct it elsewhere, so you find yourself arguing a completely different issue. 

Don't take the bait.