APAD: Witch Hunt

Whitch Hunt

A search for and subsequent persecution of a supposed witch/A campaign directed against a person or group holding unorthodox or unpopular views.

A witch hunt, or a witch purge, is a search for people who have been labeled witches or a search for evidence of witchcraft. 

In contemporary English, "witch-hunt" metaphorically means an investigation that is usually conducted with much publicity, supposedly to uncover subversive activity, disloyalty, and so on, but with the real purpose of harming opponents. It can also involve elements of moral panic, as well as mass hysteria.

Trump announced plans to slap Brazil with tariffs on 1 August earlier this month, partly in retaliation for a supposed political “witch-hunt” against his far-right ally Jair Bolsonaro. The former Brazilian president faces decades in jail for allegedly plotting a military coup to stop Lula from taking office after the former lost the 2022 presidential election.