Democratic vice-presidential candidate calls opponent a ‘slick talker’ in first comments on Tuesday’s televised clash

Democratic vice-presidential candidate calls opponent a ‘slick talker’ in first comments on Tuesday’s televised clash

The day after the only vice-presidential debate this year, Democrat Tim Walz called his Republican challenger, JD Vance, a “slick talker” who was trying to rewrite history and gaslight people about Donald Trump’s record.

During a rally in York, Pennsylvania, Walz made his first public comments on the debate, which polls show was essentially a tie between the two vice-presidential candidates. The Minnesota governor was on a tour through the swing state on Wednesday.

Walz said the two men “had a civil but spirited debate” and that he didn’t underestimate Vance’s debate skills.

But, he added: “You can’t rewrite history and trying to mislead us about Donald Trump’s record. That’s gaslighting. That’s gaslighting, on the economy, reproductive freedom, housing, gun violence.”

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  • queermunist she/her
    22·
    2 months ago

    Here’s what the Cleveland Clinic says:

    Gaslighting is a very specific form of emotional abuse and mental manipulation that disrupts your ability to trust others and yourself. While the term has gained popularity online, in reality TV and other pop culture avenues, it’s also a term that’s often over-used to describe other kinds of bad behavior like lying, guilt-tripping or shaming.

    In truth, people use these tactics and more to gaslight their targets over long periods of time in an effort to gain power and control over their victims. But it’s specifically the pattern of repetitive behavior that’s used to deteriorate a victim’s morality, sanity and sense-of-self that fundamentally defines gaslighting abuse.

    A “very specific” form of emotional abuse that’s “over-used” to describe lying, but in truth, people uses these tactics to “deteriorate a victim’s morality, sanity and sense-of-self”

    Applying this to a debate performance is troubling. He’s just a lying asshole.

    • Flying Squid@lemmy.world
      2·
      2 months ago

      That doesn’t make it a clinical term.

      In fact:

      It’s become a popular — and overused — term over the last few years (much like “narcissism” and “toxic relationships”), but it’s important to note that it’s not a clinical or mental health diagnosis. You won’t see this term used in the official Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM V), and no one can be diagnosed as “a gaslighter.”

      https://www.sondermind.com/resources/articles-and-content/how-to-deal-with-gaslighting/

      If it isn’t in the DSM V, it is not a clinical term in psychology. It is a term for laypeople.

      • queermunist she/her
        15·
        2 months ago

        Seems fair.

        I will note that both of our sources point out that the term has become overused, which was my fucking point.

        We lost a valuable term and now it’s worthless, even as a colloquialism.