Recently, John Oliver did a great critique of Tucker Carlson's racist message. I want to call attention to a tiny part of the segment. Often, one hears pleading questions from people who sound like they're seeking answers. Here are some examples from Tucker Carlson:
"White nationalism. Let's be literal for a minute. What is that, exactly?"
"I don't even know what white nationalist means, and I'm not gonna go down that rabbit hole with you now."
"Why doesn't anyone ever define white supremacy? What is white supremacy?
"Could somebody tell us in very clear language what a white supremacist is?"
The noticeable thing about these repeated questions (and what accounts for their endless repetition) is that the person asking the question really has no desire for an answer to his question. Otherwise, he'd never need to ask it again.
The way to handle these people is to call attention to that very fact. "You ask that question in a way that makes it apparent that you don't want an answer."
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