How Distractions Are Used in Politics

To Bury a Scandal or Bad News: Releasing a major announcement or picking a fight when a damaging story is breaking.
To Unify a Political Base: Creating a common “enemy” or cultural wedge issue to foster internal cohesion and distract from intra-party divisions.
To Reframe a Losing Debate: Shifting the focus from a topic where one is politically vulnerable to one where they hold a perceived advantage.
To Exhaust the Opposition and Media: Creating a constant barrage of controversies, making it difficult for critics to focus on any single issue and exhausting the public’s attention span.

1. The “Raid” on Mar-a-Lago (2022)

The Distraction Claim: Following the FBI’s execution of a search warrant at Donald Trump’s residence related to the mishandling of classified documents, Trump and his allies immediately alleged political persecution.
The Narrative Shift: They shifted the conversation from the legal details of the Espionage Act and presidential record-keeping to a broader, emotionally charged narrative of a “weaponized” Justice Department “raiding” the home of a political opponent. This successfully galvanized his base and dominated the news cycle.

2. UK Brexit Bus (2016)

The Distraction Claim: The pro-Brexit campaign famously promised that leaving the EU would free up £350 million a week for the UK’s National Health Service (NHS), a claim widely debunked by experts.
The Narrative Shift: This slogan effectively diverted complex economic and sovereignty debates about Brexit into a simple, emotionally powerful promise about beloved public healthcare, making the abstract tangible and positive for voters.

3. “Defund the Police” Framing (2020)

The Distraction Claim: Following the murder of George Floyd and widespread protests against police brutality, some activists used the slogan “Defund the Police.” Political opponents, rather than engaging with specific policy proposals for police reform or reallocating resources, seized on the phrase.
The Narrative Shift: They successfully shifted the debate from discussions on police accountability and community investment to a fear-based narrative about lawlessness, rising crime, and the abolition of police departments, which was a potent tool in the 2020 and subsequent elections.

4. The “Caravan” Before the 2018 Midterms (2018)

The Distraction Claim: In the weeks leading up to the 2018 U.S. midterm elections, the Trump administration heavily focused on a group of migrants traveling through Central America, repeatedly calling it an “invasion.”
The Narrative Shift: This shifted media attention away from domestic policy debates and health care and onto a national security and immigration narrative, a core issue for the base. The administration deployed thousands of troops to the border in a highly publicized move.

5. Australian PM’s Hawaii Trip During Bushfires (2019)

The Scandal: Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison faced intense criticism for taking a family vacation to Hawaii during a historic and deadly bushfire season.
The Distraction Attempt: Upon his return, his government appeared to launch a series of cultural wedge issues, including a renewed push for “religious freedom” laws and criticism of environmental protesters. The aim was to shift focus from his leadership during a crisis to divisive cultural battles.

6. “But her emails!” (2016)

The Underlying Issues: The 2016 U.S. presidential election featured debates on trade, foreign policy, and economic inequality.
The Distraction: The narrative became persistently dominated by the investigation into Hillary Clinton’s use of a private email server. While a legitimate issue, its constant amplification served as a potent distraction, branding her as corrupt and allowing other complex topics to be overshadowed by a single, easy-to-understand scandal.

7. India’s Article 370 Reversal (2019)

The Context: The Indian economy was experiencing a significant slowdown, with rising unemployment and falling consumer demand.
The Narrative Shift: The government’s sudden move to revoke the special autonomous status of Jammu and Kashmir (Article 370) instantly shifted the entire national news cycle. The conversation moved from economic distress to one of national security, patriotism, and constitutional change, unifying the base and stunning the opposition.

8. “Look over there!” – Trump and Biden’s Classified Documents (2023)

The Tactic: When President Biden was facing scrutiny over the discovery of classified documents from his vice-presidential days at his home and office, his supporters and some media outlets immediately pointed to the larger volume and alleged obstruction in the earlier Trump case.
The Effect: While factually accurate, this “whataboutism” served to distract from the specific details and handling of the Biden incident by reframing it as a partisan attack and equating the two situations, muddying the waters for the public.

9. UK Government Culture Wars During COVID (2020-2021)

The Context: The UK government faced severe criticism over its handling of the COVID-19 pandemic, including lockdown timing, a test-and-trace system, and procurement scandals.
The Distraction: Ministers frequently engaged in “culture war” battles, such as attacking the “woke” National Trust for documenting the historical links of its properties to slavery or criticizing efforts to decolonize school curricula. This redirected public anger towards cultural elites rather than government performance.

10. Russian “Whataboutism” on the World Stage

The Tactic: This is a classic and persistent distraction technique. When confronted with human rights abuses or acts of aggression (e.g., the invasion of Ukraine, the poisoning of Alexei Navalny), Russian state media and officials immediately respond by alleging hypocrisy and pointing to historical or contemporary sins of the West (e.g., the Iraq War, NATO bombing of Yugoslavia, U.S. domestic issues).
The Goal: The objective is not to defend their actions but to dismiss criticism entirely by creating a moral equivalence, thereby distracting from the original accusation and paralyzing further discussion.