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US Presidential Debates Over The Years: Gaffes, Chaos, Scandals

Published

1 year ago

June 27, 2024

From Gerald Ford’s catastrophic Soviet gaffe to Ronald Reagan’s witty remark about his age and Joe Biden asking Donald Trump to “shut up,” US presidential debates have been funny, vicious and everything in between.

Here are some of the most memorable moments from more than 60 years of modern American debates.

Kennedy – Nixon, September 26, 1960

It was the first televised debate of its kind, when everything was still broadcast in black-and-white, and it established the importance of a politician’s public image. Republican Richard Nixon looked poised to win the election, having served two terms as the Vice President under Dwight Eisenhower.

But the debate did not go well for him. Nixon refused to wear makeup and appeared pale and sweaty in front of more than 66 million viewers, while the young Massachusetts senator John F. Kennedy looked tanned and relaxed. While Nixon addressed the moderator, Kennedy looked at the camera, speaking directly to his voters.

How much the debate visuals pushed the needle is disputed, but Kennedy went on to defeat Nixon at the polls.

Ford – Carter, October 6, 1976

The first debate between Republican president Gerald Ford and Democratic challenger Jimmy Carter was marked by a 27-minute loss of audio. The second debate didn’t go well for Ford either when he made a gaffe that arguably cost him the presidency.

At the height of the Cold War, Ford uttered that “there is no Soviet domination of Eastern Europe, and there never will be under a Ford administration,” even though the Soviet Union had troops deployed across the Eastern bloc.

Six days passed before Ford explained himself, saying he spoke not of the literal military presence but meant that people’s spirits there hadn’t been crushed.

Reagan – Mondale, October 21, 1984

Republican president Ronald Reagan was 73 when he ran for a second term against 56-year-old Walter Mondale. But he managed to turn his age into his strength with a witty answer that went down in history.

“I will not make age an issue of this campaign,” Reagan said when asked whether he was fit for office. “I am not going to exploit, for political purposes, my opponent’s youth and inexperience,” he noted.

Bush – Clinton – Perot, October 15, 1992

The second presidential debate in the 1992 race pitted incumbent president George Bush against his future successor Bill Clinton and Ross Perot, an independent candidate.

Bush was caught on camera looking at his watch while Clinton talked to an audience member during a town hall debate, a move that cost Bush dearly.

Years later, Bush admitted he hated the debates, saying, “Maybe that’s why I was looking at it, ‘Only 10 more minutes of this crap.’”

Obama – Romney, October 22, 2012

During a debate against President Barack Obama, Republican challenger Mitt Romney lamented that the US Navy had fewer ships presently than it did in 1916.

“Governor, we also have fewer horses and bayonets, because the nature of our military’s changed,” Obama retorted.

“We have these things called aircraft carriers, where planes land on them. We have these ships that go underwater, nuclear submarines.”

Obama’s comments went viral online.

Trump – Clinton, October 9, 2016

The second debate of the 2016 US presidential election pitting Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump was particularly vicious.

Coming shortly after the release of a video in which Trump was heard boasting that his fame allowed him to grope women, the Republican billionaire went after his opponent’s husband, former president Bill Clinton, accusing him of being “so abusive to women.”

Trump also vowed to have his opponent investigated over her use of a private email account when she was the Secretary of State.

“It’s just awfully good that someone with the temperament of Donald Trump is not in charge of the law in our country,” Clinton said.

Trump shot back, “Because you’d be in jail.”

Trump – Biden, September 29, 2020

The first debate of the 2020 presidential election, featuring Trump and Democrat Joe Biden, devolved into shouting and insults.

With Trump constantly interrupting him, Biden snapped, saying, “Will you shut up, man?”

The Democrat also called his opponent a “clown” and “Putin’s puppy.”

Trump for his part kept evading the question of whether he would recognise the results of the election.

Powerless to control the two candidates, the debate moderator, Fox News journalist Chris Wallace, later described feeling as “desperation.”

AFP

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92-year-old Convicted For 1967 Killing In UK’s Oldest Cases

Published

14 hours ago

June 30, 2025

Editor

A 92-year-old British man was convicted on Monday for a rape and murder committed nearly 60 years ago, in one of the UK’s longest-running cold cases.

Ryland Headley was found guilty by a UK court for raping and killing 75-year-old Louisa Dunne after breaking into her house in Bristol, southwest England in June 1967, when he was 34 years old.

It is “one of the oldest cold cases to ever be solved in the UK”, the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS), which brings criminal prosecutions, said.

Local police reopened the case in 2023 and matched DNA from the victim’s skirt and other items from the original probe to Headley, who had also served a prison sentence for raping two elderly women in 1977.

He is due to be sentenced by a judge at Bristol Crown Court on Tuesday.

During the initial investigation, police had found a left-hand palm print from Dunne’s home, where she was found dead from strangulation.

The palm print was compared to 19,000 men to no avail.

At the time, Headley was a railway worker who lived just outside the area in which men and boys were asked to give prints.

Reaching a dead-end, police sealed away forensic evidence for half a century. Both DNA testing and later Headley’s palm print resulted in matches.

When Headley was arrested at his home last November, he told detectives: “I don’t know what you are talking about. Very strange, very strange.”

“For 58 years, this appalling crime went unsolved and Ryland Headley, the man we now know is responsible, avoided justice,” said Charlotte Ream of the CPS.

Following the conviction, Dunne’s granddaughter Mary Dainton said her death had a “far-reaching impact throughout my family”.

“I was just 20-years-old when my grandmother died and I’m now almost the same age as she was when she was killed,” Dainton said outside court.

Police said they were now looking into other possible cold cases Headley could be linked to.

“Ryland Headley has now been convicted of three rapes of elderly women within their own addresses, and in the case of Louisa Dunne, her murder as well,” Dave Marchant of Avon and Somerset Police told the PA news agency.

“I think there’s every possibility that there are other offences out there – over the 60s, 70s, however long a time period – which Mr Headley could be culpable for.”

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Hope Dashed As Norwegian Company Apologizes For ‘Mistakenly Telling’ Thousands They Won Big On Lottery

Published

14 hours ago

June 30, 2025

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A Norwegian lottery company on Monday apologised to 47,000 crestfallen gamblers who were mistakenly told they had won huge sums in a lottery, the firm blaming a currency conversion error.

State-owned gambling group Norsk Tipping said they had published incorrect prize amounts after a Eurojackpot draw on Friday because of an error converting from euro cents to Norwegian kroner.

The winnings had been multiplied by 100 instead of being divided by 100, the company said.

Among the disappointed was Ole Fredrik Sveen, who was on holiday in Greece when he received a message from Norsk Tipping that he had won 1.2 million kroner ($119,000).

“I thought: ‘Wow, is it finally my turn? Could it be true?’ I go onto the Norsk Tipping website, and there it says in black and white: ‘Congratulations, you have won!’,” Sveen told public broadcaster NRK on Monday.

In reality, he had won 125 kroner ($12).

On Monday, Sveen and the 47,000 others received apologies by text message from Norsk Tipping for the snafu.

“The apology was a poor consolation. They should have sent it out after the mistake, not today,” he said.

The Lottery Authority said Monday it had launched a review to determine if gambling laws had been broken, and Culture Minister Lubna Jaffery called the error “totally unacceptable”.

The firm’s chief executive Tonje Sagstuen resigned on Saturday after the scandal, leaving acting chief executive Vegar Strand to apologise on Monday.

Strand said his company’s state ownership made the mistake particularly problematic, noting that the firm was “entirely dependent on the trust of the population”.

“We have deeply disappointed our customers and take full responsibility for rectifying the situation. Such errors are serious for a company that is supposed to manage the trust of Norwegians,” Strand said.

“The work to rebuild trust again has the highest priority going forward.”

AFP

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Musk Renews Attack On Trump, Says ‘Big, Beautiful Bill Utterly Insane’

Published

15 hours ago

June 30, 2025

Editor

Tech entrepreneur Elon Musk has renewed his public criticism of United States President Donald Trump, taking aim at the administration’s controversial “Big, Beautiful Bill,” which recently cleared a critical hurdle in the Senate, TIMES reported.

In a post on X on Saturday, Musk denounced the 940-page legislative package as economically harmful, claiming it would severely damage emerging industries while supporting outdated sectors.

“The latest Senate draft bill will destroy millions of jobs in America and cause immense strategic harm to our country,” he wrote to his more than 220 million followers.

He further described the legislation as “utterly insane and destructive.”

The senate narrowly voted 51–49 to advance the bill on Saturday night, following extended negotiations among Republicans. Vice President J.D Vance was present to cast a tie-breaking vote, though it was ultimately not required.

Musk, who once served as head of the Department of Government Efficiency under Trump, left the administration after a high-profile fallout and has since emerged as one of the bill’s fiercest opponents.

He described the measure as “political suicide” for Republicans and warned that it would raise the national debt ceiling by $5 trillion — the largest such increase in US history. “America is in the fast lane to debt slavery,” he added.

Responding in an interview aired Sunday on Fox News Sunday Morning Futures, Trump attempted to defuse the tension. “I haven’t spoken to him much, but I think Elon is a wonderful guy,” he said. Trump also suggested Musk’s frustration stemmed from disagreements over recent changes to electric vehicle mandates.

Musk’s opposition to the bill is not new. Earlier in June, he urged Americans to contact their representatives, calling the legislation a “massive, outrageous, pork-filled Congressional spending bill.”

Despite the bill’s advancement in the Senate, it faces continued resistance. Senate Democrats have slowed proceedings by demanding the entire bill be read aloud in protest.

“If Senate Republicans won’t tell the American people what’s in this bill, then Democrats are going to force this chamber to read it from start to finish,” said Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer