--- title: Presidential Debate: Man Dies to Avoid Watching description: Many Americans have been hesitant to tune into the presidential debates, but maybe none more so than the late George Norman Davis. canonical: https://time.com/4538908/presidential-debate-man-dies-to-avoid-watching/ author: Megan McCluskey article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2016-10-20T22:01:18.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-08-19T07:44:37.518Z og:title: Man Dies to Avoid Watching Presidential Debate, According to Obituary og:description: "He meant it when he said he would rather die" og:url: https://time.com/4538908/presidential-debate-man-dies-to-avoid-watching/ 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: Man Dies to Avoid Watching Presidential Debate, According to Obituary twitter:description: "He meant it when he said he would rather die" twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltde093bcdab65f2d0/6988d9b9bc6cfc69913e2a3c/time-logo.jpg?branch=production --- # Man Dies to Avoid Watching Presidential Debate According to Obituary > Sponsored content. 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There is no cost and no subscription requirement. ### Sources * TIME Newsletters: [time.com/newsletters](/c/time-nl-network-2026q3/newsletters?i=1c3fe344-cc22-4af2-ab14-ab75cb4ccf90&cr=time-nl-network-2026q3-v1)  by [Megan McCluskey](https://time.com/author/megan-mccluskey/)  ## Megan McCluskey Staff Writer Oct 20, 2016 10:01 PM UTC  by [Megan McCluskey](https://time.com/author/megan-mccluskey/)  ## Megan McCluskey Staff Writer Oct 20, 2016 10:01 PM UTC Some Americans have been hesitant to tune into the [debates](http://time.com/4538271/donald-trump-nasty-woman-interruption-presidential-debate/) between [Hillary Clinton](http://time.com/4538045/presidential-debate-hillary-clinton-strategy/) and [Donald Trump](http://time.com/4538855/donald-trump-election-results-recount/), but maybe none more so than the late George Norman Davis, a Pennsylvania man whose [obituary](http://time.com/4189495/obituary-dont-vote-for-trump/) says he died to avoid watching the presidential showdowns. In an obituary that ran in the [_Delaware County_ _Daily Times_](http://www.legacy.com/obituaries/delcotimes/obituary.aspx?n=george-norman-davis&pid=181651100), the U.S. Army veteran’s family spoke of his negative outlook on the current state of politics. “Apparently he meant it when he said he would rather die than have to watch the presidential debate,” the obit read. “At least he is no longer obligated to vote, firmly believing regardless of the outcome, the nation is going someplace in a handbasket and he would rather travel in the opposite direction.” > [](https://twitter.com/BrianPHickey/status/781548301002936321) Norman passed away Sept. 26 shortly following the first debate. \[h/t [_The Huffington Post_](http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/george-norman-davis-obituary%5Fus%5F58081271e4b0dd54ce37a379?section=)\] ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4538908/presidential-debate-man-dies-to-avoid-watching/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4538908/presidential-debate-man-dies-to-avoid-watching/"},"headline":"Man Dies to Avoid Watching Presidential Debate According to Obituary","datePublished":"2016-10-20T22:01:18.000Z","dateModified":"2026-08-19T07:44:37.518Z","description":"Self-fulfilling prophecy","url":"https://time.com/4538908/presidential-debate-man-dies-to-avoid-watching/","keywords":["Newsfeed","Hillary Clinton","2016 Election","Donald Trump","obituaries","presidential debate"],"thumbnailUrl":"","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Megan McCluskey","jobTitle":"Staff Writer","url":"https://time.com/author/megan-mccluskey/"}],"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/4538908/presidential-debate-man-dies-to-avoid-watching/","name":"Man Dies to Avoid Watching Presidential Debate According to Obituary"}}]}] ```