Want to hear a bad joke? This field of GOP presidential candidates.
That’s not even a liberally biased joke. Regardless of one’s political allegiances, it’s easy to see that this crop of contenders has been particularly gaffe-prone.
From Jon Huntsman's failed Nirvana reference to Rick Perry’s “Oops” moment, TheWrap offers a prized collection of political comedy.
Let’s start with the latest entry – Herman Cain’s own Rick Perry moment.
In a meeting with the editorial board of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel Monday, Cain, whose popularity has begun to wane in the wake of numerous sexual harassment allegations, once again struggled to demonstrate any kind of foreign policy competence.
When asked whether he approved of President Barack Obama’s handling of the conflict in Libya, Cain couldn’t come up with an answer. He paused, he stumbled and he stopped.
Why? “Got all this stuff twirling around in my head,” Cain explained.
Here's the video:
Cain also stumbled in September when Christian Broadcasting Network’s David Brody asked Cain who the president of Uzbekistan is.
Just one problem: Cain didn’t know.
Also Read: From Cain to Bachmann: Which GOP Candidate Will Be the Next Media Star?
Not only did he seem to think it was okay that he didn’t know, but he butchered the name of the country, calling it “Ubeki-beki-beki-beki-stan-stan.”
Here's the video:
In all fairness to Herman, he’s not as gaffe-prone as some of his other colleagues.
For every Mitt Romney – whose only such mistake so far was the whole “corporations are people too” blunder – there are several others who can fill the void.
The star of this field is Rick Perry. Where to begin, where to begin?
Back in August, he characterized Federal Reserve chairman Ben Bernanke’s strategy as “treasonous” and by early September, he labeled Social Security a Ponzi scheme. But those were just warm-ups for his true coup de grace.
During a CNBC debate Nov. 9, Perry said he would eliminate three federal agencies…but then couldn’t name three. Eventually, he just settled with “Oops.”
Also Read: Jon Stewart on Rick Perry's 'Oops': The 'Dope Diamond' of Comedy
There are several ways of reliving this moment, from "Saturday Night Live" to Jon Stewart, but the clip itself is pretty great:
But in case you haven't seen it, here is Jon Stewart having some fun with that:
| The Daily Show With Jon Stewart | Mon – Thurs 11p / 10c | |||
| Indecision 2012 – Mercy Rule Edition | ||||
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Don’t you feel bad for the other candidates, Perry stealing their comedic spotlight?
What about Michele Bachmann. Back in January, she lauded the founding fathers for working to end slavery. Wait…what? In March, she said the Revolutionary War began in New Hampshire. Nope, that would be Massachusetts.
But the one that really seemed to put the nail in Bachmann’s electoral coffin? Her overreach on the HPV vaccine.
She seemed to gain some points in a September debate by critiquing Perry for an executive order he signed in Texas making the vaccine mandatory for young girls. But after the debate she told Fox News that a woman came up to her and said her daughter suffered from mental retardation as a result of being administered the vaccine. She repeated that story on NBC's "Today" show:
Turns out the two are not all that connected, but who fact checks these days anyway?
Finally, ever the afterthought, there is Jon Huntsman. Huntsman got in hot water less for a gaffe then for just being awkward and un-funny when he was trying to be funny.
He tried to make a joke about Nirvana, a band very popular with the GOP's core base.
Then again, in Saturday’s GOP debate on CBS, Huntsman spoke articulately about foreign policy. Cain can’t tell you what Obama did in Libya. Which one do you think is faring better in the polls.
Mitt Romney, you lucky devil.