dead cat

1. something said or done to divert attention from unpleasant news, 2. There is a story, popular among British politicians and attributed to the Australian strategist Lynton Crosby, known as "The Dead Cat." A CEO is confronted with poor statistics at a board meeting, and to divert attention from this unpleasant news, he suddenly pulls out a dead cat and throws it onto the middle of the table. ( Kate Maltby, 'Hamilton' is Trump's dead cat' , CNN, November 22, 2016)