A “scapegoat” is a person or group of people who gets wrongly and unfairly blamed for something they didn’t do.
So, the scapegoat gets all the blame and all the punishment, but they actually didn’t do anything wrong.
I could say, “It’s so unfair. My friend went to jail for stealing but he didn’t steal anything, it was actually his boss who stole but he used my friend as a scapegoat”
Sometimes a powerful government leader who does a crime will find some scapegoat to take the blame. It’s sick, it’s unfair, it’s wrong, and it’s evil, but this is what it’s called when the wrong person takes the blame and punishment for a crime they didn’t commit.
It’s a great word in spoken English, and the next time you hear it, you will know what it means.
http://www.speak-fluent-english.com