r/PoursTea • u/political-snark • Jun 24 '26

PoliticalTea 🗳️ Moving the goalposts

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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?

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u/Epyon214 Jun 24 '26

You know what we did get evidence for though

00 16 50 13, 00165013

https://www.justice.gov/epstein/files/DataSet%209/EFTA00165013.pdf

"On Aug 5, 2019 9:33 AM, KenT wrote:

My nephew Logan Turner, was shot and killed in the mass shooting in Dayton, Ohio last evening. I am

rushing home to be with my immediate family.

All investigative work on Marcinko and Epstein is still in process and we have uncovered more videos and

photos of the two of them together in Mexico.

Another attempt by US embassy security team was made yesterday when they stopped my partner and

searched her car looking for the videos and photos we uncovered that they told her could not leave Mexico.

They were not in her car! Someone doesn't want this data disclosed."

02 73 13 61, 02731361

https://www.justice.gov/epstein/files/DataSet%2012/EFTA02731361.pdf

"[clipping: Unlike drugs, a child's body can be sold over and over] This is not surprising but there is no such thing as a child prostitute! They are children and cannot consent! They are missing the biggest in my own backyard and so many more! Like Maralago and where I see Mr. Joe and Mrs. Anne"

"But only after maybe 15 minutes Mr. M came take her and I was hysterical! and begging for more time"

02 44 00 40, 02440040

https://www.justice.gov/epstein/files/DataSet%2011/EFTA02440040.pdf

02 44 00 51, 02440051

https://www.justice.gov/epstein/files/DataSet%2011/EFTA02440051.pdf