Another week, another debate, and this one was a doozy. We sure learned a lot, and by that, I mean we learned how great our presidential candidates are at completely ignoring the questions and talking about whatever the heck they want. They both ascribed to different schools of disregarding the question and talking about whatever they want instead – Hillary to the “English Major” school, where she kinda answered the question but went off on a tangent at length about something she really wanted to talk about, while Donald seemed to be a student of the “Toddler” school, known for just completely disregarding what was said and talking about something totally unrelated.
So, without further ado: here is the craziest question responses – and a five star rating on whether or not they really answered the question:
All quotes pulled from Politico’s debate transcripts.
The Question: From Patrice Brock, for both candidates: “Do you feel you are modelling appropriate and positive behavior for today’s youth?”
Hillary’s Answer: Our country should be united, and campaigns shouldn’t be saying nasty, divisive things.
Rating: *** (kinda, but not really)
Donald’s Answer: America’s not great because we have a lot of debt, and also something about needing to respect police.
Rating: ** (not an answer)
The Question: From moderators, for Donald: “You described kissing women without consent, grabbing their genitals. That is sexual assault. You bragged that you have sexually assaulted women. Do you understand that?”
Donald’s Answer: I didn’t say that; also, we need to defeat ISIS. (After being redirected.) Women like me. I never said anything. I want to make people rich.
Rating: * (you didn’t even try,dude.)
Hillary’s Answer: Not only has Donald said awful things about women, he’s also said awful things about basically every group of people that’s not “Donald Trump.”
Rating: **** (an answer, and a correct one, but about your opponent, so…barely.)
The Question: From Jeff on Facebook: “So Mr. Trump, let me add to that, when you walked off that bus at age 59, were you a different man or did that behavior continue until just recently?”
Donald’s Answer: I already “apologized,” I don’t know why people are still upset. Bill Clinton may have sexually assaulted someone, and I can tell blatant lies about Hillary, so somebody should be distracted by now.
Rating: * (kind of to the point, but via straight-up, obvious lying.)
Question: From moderators, to Donald: “Your running mate said the Muslim ban is no longer your position. Is that correct and if it is, was it a mistake to have a religious test?”
Donald’s Answer: I never liked the war in Iraq. (After being redirected for completely ignoring the question.) No, but I don’t want to call it that anymore.
Rating: *** (His actual answer was to the point, if ridiculous, but moderators shouldn’t have to steer him back on track like a child trying to climb the playset.)
Question: From an online forum, for Hillary: “‘is it okay for politicians to be two-faced? Is it acceptable for a politician to have have a private stance on issues?”
Hillary’s Answer: I was actually quoting the movie Lincoln, and while we’re talking about that, how about them Russian hackers?
Rating: ** (Boo. You didn’t lie, but that wasn’t an answer.)
Donald’s Answer: You guys keep saying Russian hackers because you think I like Russia, which I don’t, because the government asked me to do a post office? Also, I pay taxes.
Rating: * (I honestly didn’t think it could get more off topic than Hillary’s answer. I was wrong.)
Question: From moderators, to Donald: “Did you use that $960 million loss to avoid paying personal federal income taxes?”
Donald’s Answer: Yes, absolutely.
Rating: ***** (He actually answered a question!)
Question: From moderators, to Donald: “Can you say how many years you have avoided paying personal federal income taxes?”
Donald’s Answer: I pay taxes. It’s Hillary’s fault if I don’t. She started ISIS.
Rating: * (But… but… you just said… why….)
Question: From James Carter, to both candidates: “My question is, do you believe you can be a devoted president to all the people in the United States.”
Donald’s Answer: You’re from the inner city, right? That’s where Black people live?
Rating: … (Oh man. Oh boy.)
And that wasn’t even mentioning all the lies, crosstalk, and times Anderson Cooper had to ask people to shut up!
To everyone who’s interested in the outcome of this election, today is the last day to register to vote online. Check it out at rockthevote.com.
