--- title: The Simpsons Take On The 2016 Election With 'The Debateful Eight' description: Imagine a world where “Republicans, Democrats and Donald Trump all get along” canonical: https://time.com/4232432/2016-the-simpsons/ author: Melissa Locker article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2016-02-22T22:36:30.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-04-13T07:30:22.447Z og:title: 'The Simpsons' Take On The 2016 Election With 'The Debateful Eight' og:description: Imagine a world where “Republicans, Democrats and Donald Trump all get along” og:url: https://time.com/4232432/2016-the-simpsons/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltde093bcdab65f2d0/6988d9b9bc6cfc69913e2a3c/time-logo.jpg?branch=production og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 675 og:image:alt: TIME og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: 'The Simpsons' Take On The 2016 Election With 'The Debateful Eight' twitter:description: Imagine a world where “Republicans, Democrats and Donald Trump all get along” twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltde093bcdab65f2d0/6988d9b9bc6cfc69913e2a3c/time-logo.jpg?branch=production --- # _The Simpsons_ Take On The 2016 Election With 'The Debateful Eight' by [Melissa Locker](https://time.com/author/melissa-locker/) ## Melissa Locker Feb 22, 2016 10:36 PM UTC by [Melissa Locker](https://time.com/author/melissa-locker/) ## Melissa Locker Feb 22, 2016 10:36 PM UTC Imagine a world where Donald Trump compliments Sen. Ted Cruz. Imagine a world where Sen. Bernie Sanders and Cruz are on the same side. Imagine a world where political debates devolve into heartfelt, if politically charged renditions of “How Sweet It Is (To Be Loved by You)”. That’s the world that _The Simpsons_ envision in a new politically skewed short released over the weekend, called “The Debateful Eight.” As it turns out, like many casual political watchers, Marge Simpson can’t stomach the ongoing presidential campaign and the endless stream of vitriolic debates. To help her sleep through the night, Homer recommends that she use her imagination to picture a world where “Republicans, Democrats and Donald Trump all get along.” Marge manages it for awhile, but even daydreams can turn into nightmares. The Simpsons Take On The 2016 Election With 'The Debateful Eight' ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4232432/2016-the-simpsons/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4232432/2016-the-simpsons/"},"headline":"The Simpsons Take On The 2016 Election With 'The Debateful Eight'","datePublished":"2016-02-22T22:36:30.000Z","dateModified":"2026-04-13T07:30:22.447Z","description":"Imagine a world where “Republicans, Democrats and Donald Trump all get along”","url":"https://time.com/4232432/2016-the-simpsons/","keywords":["Newsfeed","2016 Election topic","quentin tarantino","The Simpsons","Animation"],"thumbnailUrl":"","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Melissa Locker","jobTitle":"","url":"https://time.com/author/melissa-locker/"}],"articleSection":"","image":[],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/tag/time-section-newsfeed/","name":"Newsfeed"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/4232432/2016-the-simpsons/","name":"The Simpsons Take On The 2016 Election With 'The Debateful Eight'"}}]}] ```