A humble suggestion [View all]

[EarlG]

When talking about Trump's appalling behavior, don't say, "Imagine if Obama had done this," or "Imagine if Biden had done that." It's an easy thing to say -- I even noticed Hakeem Jeffries doing it the other day. But I think it's bad framing. Saying "Imagine if Obama/Biden had done this," to a conservative has two effects, neither of them useful.

First, conservatives already spend all day imagining what Obama and Biden would or did do while in office. They have already imagined the worst. They have already imagined Biden and Obama building gulags, and violating people's Constitutional rights, and profiting from the presidency. Conservatives have already been brainwashed into believing that Biden and Obama did all of that.

Second, it's weak whataboutism. If Trump is violating the Constitution, then saying, "Imagine if Obama violated the Constitution," to a conservative just drags Obama down to Trump's level. They will imagine Obama violating the Constitution. Then they will say to you, "Well if Obama did it you'd be fine with it" -- and now they have become even more entrenched in their thinking. They will feel justified in supporting Trump's Constitutional violations because they can imagine Obama or Biden doing it, and they can imagine liberals supporting Obama or Biden doing it.

So instead, try: "Obama didn't do this," or "Biden didn't do that."

It's the difference between:

"Donald Trump just accepted a $400 million bribe from a foreign government in the form of a Boeing 747. Imagine if Joe Biden did that."

And:

"Donald Trump just accepted a $400 million bribe from a foreign government in the form of a Boeing 747. Joe Biden didn't do that."

The first example asks you to imagine Joe Biden breaking the law, in order to make a false comparison between Trump and Biden. But Trump and Biden are at opposite ends of the moral spectrum -- so why plant the seed in someone's mind that Biden is the same as Trump? The second example, however, sets up a direct comparison between the two, and highlights that moral void.

So my suggestion is to avoid telling people to imagine Biden or Obama committing the same crimes as Trump, and instead point out that Biden and Obama HAVE NOT committed the same crimes as Trump.

... and that's my 2 cents.