Presidential gaffes
- Prior to a 1984 radio broadcast, Ronald Reagan was asked to speak into the microphone for a sound check. Joking, he said, “My fellow Americans, I’m pleased to tell you today that I’ve signed legislation that will outlaw Russia forever. We begin bombing in five minutes.” A recording of his statement was leaked, and Soviet forces were briefly put on alert.
- A reporter once asked Dwight Eisenhower what important decisions his vice president, Richard Nixon, had helped him make. Eisenhower, with uncharacteristic candor, replied, “If you give me a week I might think of one.” It was such a revealing remark that the Democrats replayed it in campaign ads against Nixon in 1960.
- When George H.W. Bush passed out on the Prime Minister of Japan ABC News video shows the president overcome with nausea then vomiting and fainting right onto his host, Japanese Prime Minister Kiichi Miyazawa. Minutes later, he was well enough to stand up and apologize for the incident.
- At the 1988 Republican Convention, candidate George H.W. Bush pledged to resist Congressional pressure to raise taxes. “They’ll push, and I’ll say no, and they’ll push again, and I’ll say, to them, ‘Read my lips: no new taxes.’” Two years later, those lips had to eat those words as Bush raised taxes, helping to drop his approval rating from 79% to 56%.
- When George W. Bush, Bill Clinton and Ross Perot debated on Oct. 15, 1992, Bush was caught on camera looking at his watch while Clinton talked to an audience member during a town hall debate, a move that probably cost Bush the presidency that year. Many years later, Bush admitted he hated debates. “Maybe that’s why I was looking at it: ‘Only 10 more minutes of this crap.’”
- No crooks here: Asked in an interview if there was any situation in which the president, in the best interest of America, could commit an illegal act, Richard Nixon replied, “Well, when the president does it, that means that it is not illegal.” That didn’t work out for him.
We didn’t want to bring attention to recent presidents, so it was a total accident that all of these gaffes were from Republicans! Presidents Clinton, Obama and Biden had their share of gaffes as well! And our current president — well, yes!
