Rhetorical trick
Whataboutism
Deflect criticism by pointing at someone else's unrelated wrongdoing.
The original point being madeA different, unrelated wrongdoing raised instead
Deflect criticism by pointing at someone else's unrelated wrongdoing.
Example
"Our factory's safety record is poor." "Well, what about Company X, their record is worse."
Whataboutism answers a specific criticism by redirecting to someone else’s unrelated failing, without ever addressing the original point.
Even if the counter-example is true, it doesn’t make the original criticism false. Company X having a worse record doesn’t fix this factory’s safety record.
Notice when a reply changes who’s being discussed instead of what’s being discussed. That’s the redirect.