swiftboat

Meanings

Noun

• A type of gunboat used by the United States military on inland waterways.
• A smear campaign based on specious claims.

Verb

• To attack a politician with specious claims.
• To smear; to attack someone or something's reputation using slander, misrepresentation, or false accusations.

Origin

• Uncertain: Possibly, swift + boat, or possibly based on an acronym for Shallow Water Inshore Fast Tactical Craft.
• The use as a political term derives from a smear campaign against John Kerry when Texas tycoon Robert J. Perry hired several Navy swiftboat veterans to form the group Swift Boat Veterans for Truth, which questioned the legitimacy of Kerry's status as a war hero.