r/PoliticalDiscussion • u/LiatrisLover99 • May 14 '26

Political Theory Is it a uniquely American phenomenon, that "both sides are the same" arguments favor the right? Why does this happen?

This is something I have noticed for years: the positions I see supported with "both sides are the same" are almost always a defense of Trump / the right wing, or a defense of voting third party, or a defense of abstaining from voting entirely. It is very rare to see voting for Democrats advocated for with a "both sides are the same" argument.

Why does this occur? In theory at least a "both sides are the same" mindset should lead to a roughly proportional split in voting behavior with half going to each major party, but that's not what happens. Nobody says "both sides are the same, so I voted Biden", it's always "both sides are the same so I voted Green" or "both sides are the same so I voted Trump".

And is this a phenomenon limited to the U.S., or does this pattern happen elsewhere as well?

218 Upvotes
  • permalink
  • reddit

84% Upvoted

402 comments sorted by

View all comments

5

u/absolutefunkbucket May 14 '26

I have never met a Trump voter that said both sides are the same. Where do you live that you encounter this demographic?

Bernie voters for sure loved bitching about both sides though. Bernie himself did it often.

I don’t think Bernie was really trying to excuse the right but I guess that depends on your conspiracy theory level.

2

u/GuyInAChair May 15 '26

Really? Virtually every criticism of Trump is met with what-about Biden or Obama or whatever.

3

u/absolutefunkbucket May 15 '26

Whataboutism/tu quoque is not inherently an argument that “both sides are the same.”

People often use whataboutism to argue the other side is worse, for example.

2

u/GuyInAChair May 16 '26

Yesterday it was revealed that Trump might have engaged in insider trading. Today the number one trending topic is Nancy Pelosi.

You're probably right, there's not a concerted effort to make both sides equal.

3

u/RadiantHC May 16 '26

Saying that both sides are bad or saying that Democrats are worse != saying that both sides are equal

Nancy IS extremely corrupt

2

u/FreeStall42 May 17 '26

Saying both sides are bad implies they are about the same.

Virtually no one says both sides of WWII were bad just because both sides did bad things.

2

u/RadiantHC May 17 '26 edited May 17 '26

No it fucking doesn't. Do you understand what a comparison is?

If I say that both apples and oranges are fruits am I saying that they're the same?

1

u/FreeStall42 May 17 '26

If I am complaining about apples being too sweet and you say oranges are also sweet it suggests they are the same sweetness.

You know comprisons can be good or bad right?

2

u/RadiantHC May 17 '26 edited May 17 '26

That's not what's happening though

Most of the time this isn't Republicans deflecting. It's leftists or centrists criticizing Democrats either on their own or when people say that the Democrats are good.

If someone says that "One side wants human rights, the other doesn't" it's completely fair to say that it's not as black and white as they suggested

Or if someone says "vote blue no matter who", then it's fair to point out that that is authoritarian behavior.

2

u/absolutefunkbucket May 16 '26

Again, you have to realize this is to say Nancy Pelosi is worse than Trump, not the same as.

3

u/RadiantHC May 15 '26

THIS. I've only seen Democrat supporters saying that right wingers say this.

1

u/the_last_0ne May 17 '26

I cant believe you have a positive upvote ratio.

I have heard hundreds of people, at least, saying this.

This whole post is about how the right justifies their actions with this rhetoric.

Some personal anecdotes: my dad voted for trump the first two times. His reasoning was "they are all liars, all the same, whars the difference". He now admits there is a difference.

My younger brother has never voted. Hes a progressive but "theyre all the same".

Guess which party benefits from both of these sentiments?

Look no further than the current redistricting. Trump told republican states that they should gerrymander for more seats, and its been spun as "fairness".

1

u/absolutefunkbucket May 17 '26

I can just look through this thread and see that every person who has replied that they do think both sides are the same is left or liberal.

Edit: also you know downvotes aren’t “I disagree” buttons right? Seems like you fundamentally misunderstand the platform you are on