Prime Minister Robert Fico at a press briefing after a working lunch with EU and US ambassadors on Slovakia’s political situation, March 6, 2018, Bratislava. (source: Sme - Marko Erd)
Imagine you are losing. The facts about what is happening in the country prove you wrong. The more people truly grasp the reality of the situation, the weaker your position becomes – and with it, your ability to persuade them to stand by you.
What do you do?
This is how former British Prime Minister Boris Johnson, back in 2013 when he was still Mayor of London, described the strategy used by successful politicians when they find themselves in trouble. Writing for The Telegraph, he put it simply:
“You throw a dead cat on the table.”
It does not really matter that throwing a dead cat onto the dining table will shock, alarm or disgust those sitting around it.
“The key point,” he explained, “is that everyone will shout: ‘Jeez, mate, there’s a dead cat on the table!’”
Suddenly, they will not be talking about their everyday struggles or the government’s bad policies. The problems that are causing them so much distress will be pushed aside, Johnson concluded.
How to decode what and why Prime Minister Robert Fico says what he does:
Dead cat: Fico’s looks like a coup d’état
Shoot the messenger: Fico takes aim at the media
Red herring: Just do not look in your wallet
Scapegoats: Progressives, liberals, cafés, NGOs, former president Zuzana Čaputová, the opposition
More examples of manipulation
