sidestep (the issue)
tergiversate
verb
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To evade, to equivocate using subterfuge; to obfuscate in a deliberate manner.
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To flee by turning one's back.
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To change sides or affiliation; to apostatize.
How often have the words sidestep (the issue) and tergiversate occurred in a corpus of books? (source: Google Ngram Viewer )