• Donald Trump is an avid practitioner of the Gish Gallop, a debating method designed to defeat opponents by burying them in a torrent of incorrect, irrelevant, or idiotic arguments.
• The Gish Gallop was first used by Duane Tolbert Gish, a biochemist at the Institute for Creation Research, to win debates against evolutionists.
• The Gish Gallop is based on delivery over depth and exploits the fact that it takes more energy to refute bullshit than to produce it.
• Communication experts advise to pick your battle, call out the Gish Galloper, and don’t budge when they start spewing nonsense.
• Jonathan Swan’s interview with Trump in August 2020 revealed the president’s Gish Gallop for what it is: a deliberate strategy to deflect and distract.
Published February 16, 2023
Visit The Atlantic to read Mehdi Hasan’s original post How to Beat Trump in a Debate
