--- title: The Gaffe-O-Meter description: Presidential candidates really do say the darnedest things. We ranked the best of the worst canonical: https://time.com/archive/6642771/the-gaffe-o-meter/ author: TIME Staff article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2012-11-19T05:00:00.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-02-26T16:28:05.993Z article:section: Politics og:title: The Gaffe-O-Meter og:description: Presidential candidates really do say the darnedest things. We ranked the best of the worst og:url: https://time.com/archive/6642771/the-gaffe-o-meter/ 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 Gaffe-O-Meter twitter:description: Presidential candidates really do say the darnedest things. 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There is no cost and no subscription requirement. by [TIME Staff](https://time.com/author/time-staff/) Nov 19, 2012 5:00 AM UTC by [TIME Staff](https://time.com/author/time-staff/) Nov 19, 2012 5:00 AM UTC HAPLESS RYAN “I had a 2-hour-and-50-something.” Aug. 22, 2012, when asked about his personal best marathon time, which was actually just over four hours OBAMA “Voting is the best revenge.” Nov. 2, 2012, trying to motivate Ohio supporters who had booed Romney; the GOP nominee responded by encouraging voters to “vote for love of country” HUNTSMAN “When’s the delivery food coming?” Oct. 24, 2011, on The Colbert Report, after the show played Chinese-sounding music; the comment, intended to be a joke, was blasted in the blogosphere CAIN “Ubeki-beki-beki-beki-stan-stan.” Oct. 10, 2011, admitting that he didn’t know the President of Uzbekistan because, he explained, it’s a “small, insignificant state” that isn’t worthy of U.S. attention ROMNEY “Rick, I’ll tell you what–10,000 bucks. $10,000 bet.” Dec. 10, 2011, in response to Perry’s assertion that he was for individual mandates before he was against them OBAMA “The private sector is doing fine.” June 8, 2012, explaining that the economy was slowly improving; Republicans used the comment to argue that Obama doesn’t understand reality SANTORUM “I don’t want to make black people’s lives better.” Jan. 1, 2012, taking a dig at those who he says abuse the welfare and Medicaid systems; Santorum later said he was misunderstood GINGRICH “I don’t think right-wing social engineering is any more desirable than left-wing social engineering.” May 15, 2011, criticizing changes to Medicare in Ryan’s budget OBAMA “After my election, I have more flexibility.” March 26, 2012, asking then Russian President Dmitri Medvedev for “space” on missile-defense negotiations, when Obama thought nobody else was listening ROMNEY “I like being able to fire people.” Jan. 9, 2012, arguing that Americans should be allowed to switch insurance companies if they’re not happy with their coverage; Democrats used the line to reinforce their image of Romney as a cold, calculating businessman HARMFUL BACHMANN A mother “told me that her little daughter took that \[HPV\] vaccine … and she suffered from mental retardation thereafter.” Sept. 12, 2011, kicking off a major medical controversy PERRY “The third one, I can’t. Sorry. Oops.” Nov. 9, 2011, after listing two of the three federal agencies he had promised to cut if elected–and effectively torpedoing his campaign BIDEN “How they can justify … raising taxes on the middle class that’s been buried the last four years?” Oct. 2, 2012, attacking Republicans for their tax plan–and accidentally taking a swipe at Obama OBAMA “You can’t change Washington from the inside.” Sept. 20, 2012, offering up what Romney would later call “an act of surrender” ROMNEY “There are a few things that were disconcerting.” July 25, 2012, questioning whether London was prepared to host the Olympic Games, which caused British papers to brand him Mitt the Twit BIDEN “They’re going to put y’all back in chains.” Aug. 14, 2012, refuting the Republicans’ assertion that reducing regulation would “unchain” the economy; critics seized on the comment, which was delivered to a largely black audience RYAN “It would take me too long to go through all the math.” Sept. 30, 2012, when asked to explain the specifics of the tax plan he and Romney were proposing ROMNEY “Corporations are people, my friend.” Aug. 11, 2011, explaining that corporate profits make their way into people’s pockets; opponents used the line to reinforce his image as an out-of-touch plutocrat OBAMA “If you’ve got a business–you didn’t build that.” July 13, 2012, explaining how government helps spur entrepreneurship; conservatives spun the remark as an attack on private enterprise ROMNEY “My job is not to worry about \[47% of Americans\].” May 17, 2012, speaking at a $50,000-a-plate fundraiser; a secret video of his remarks, obtained by Mother Jones, logged 3.2 million hits on YouTube and set off a media firestorm ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/archive/6642771/the-gaffe-o-meter/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/archive/6642771/the-gaffe-o-meter/"},"headline":"The Gaffe-O-Meter","datePublished":"2012-11-19T05:00:00.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-26T16:28:05.993Z","description":"Presidential candidates really do say the darnedest things. 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