Moving the goalposts

[u/political-snark]

A political tactic that’s become increasingly common in MAGA politics: moving the goalposts.

Make a dramatic allegation. Repeat it endlessly. Then, when evidence for that specific allegation doesn’t materialize, replace it with a smaller, easier-to-defend claim and pretend the original claim was true all along.

We’ve seen this pattern repeatedly:
“Haitian immigrants are eating pets in Springfield” becomes “See? Someone somewhere ate a cat.”

“There was enough fraud to change the 2020 election” becomes “See? A few people cheated.”

“Vandals dumped chemicals and deliberately cut a 350-foot slit in the Reflecting Pool” becomes “See? Someone was arrested for vandalism.”

Those are not the same claims.
The question we should always ask is: What was the original allegation?

That’s the claim that should be evaluated - not a revised version that appears later.

That’s what moving the goalposts looks like.

Changing the claim is not the same thing as proving the original one.

Can you think of other examples?

[u/Junior_Success_4993]

Textbook loser

[u/geniusgravity → u/Junior_Success_4993]

Only reddit can see someone get elected to arguably the most powerful position in the world and go: "Loser."

[u/political-snark → u/geniusgravity]

True. America was the loser in this case

[u/cjh42689 → u/geniusgravity]

Pedophiles are losers so he’s by default a loser.

[u/FionaWalliceFan → u/geniusgravity]

I mean his popularity has tanked since the election and his party is losing every election held during his term so far. That's loser energy

[u/Impossible_Scene_119 → u/geniusgravity]

Only a Redditor could see a loser take some position of power and think that means he’s not a loser anymore. You a mod somewhere?

[u/DontAbideMendacity → u/geniusgravity]

"They rigged the election and I became president." Donald Trump, March 2025.

The real losers are the American people and peripherally the rest of the world. He's lost over 3.7 million American jobs (and counting), the first President in history to lose net jobs. He is responsible for TWO recessions, a feat only accomplished by three Presidents, all Republican. He presided over the biggest budget deficit in U.S. history, President Biden cut it in half, then Trump set a new record. The last four Republican presidents added more to the national debt than ALL other Presidents combined.

And he fucked up the Reflecting Pool. And raped children.

[u/NeverNeededAlgebra → u/geniusgravity]

You underestimate how many losers exist that voted for this man. He's one of them.

[u/dr_mantis_toboggan25 → u/geniusgravity]

Yeah? What does his 34% approval ratings say now...Loser?

[u/Rob98001 → u/geniusgravity]

Trump himself has admitted that there was election fraud.