General Discussion

or by raising an unrelated issue to change the subject. In my opinion, it reveals that the other person is making weak arguments, and they likely know it.

The primary goal is to shift focus away from the original difficult question to avoid accountability or to defend an idea or goal with questionable value or that has high-risk and very little (if any) gain.

So, instead of addressing the validity of the initial criticism, the person using whataboutism exaggerates a perceived flaw in their opponent or another party... or they'll often imply a moral equivalence between two different views, even if they are not truly comparable in context.

In the end, this weak tactic serves as a red herring, introducing an irrelevant topic to derail the conversation and "muddy the waters".

You handled this very well.