56 memorable moments from a wild presidential race

The 2016 presidential campaign will be one for the ages.

With just two weeks to go, a long campaign season full of surprising moments is nearing its end.

It’s easy to forget every twist and turn, so here are 56 moments that should be remembered.

Rapists, criminals and good people

Donald Trump announced his presidential bid in June 2015, promising to build a “great wall” to control Mexican immigration. He was criticized for saying that Mexico sent the United States “criminals” and “rapists,” though he also said they sent “some good people.”

Not a hero

Trump’s July 2015 comment that 2008 GOP presidential nominee Sen. John McCain (Ariz.) is not a “war hero” and that he likes people who “weren’t captured” drew a serious rebuke from both sides of the aisle. At the time, many wondered if those comments would sink Trump.

Call me, maybe

Trump fought back after Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) called him a “jackass” by giving out Graham’s personal cellphone number during a stump speech that same month. Graham made light of the ordeal in a video. 

Trump feuds with Megyn Kelly

Trump appeared to make a reference to menstruation while criticizing Republican primary debate questions in August from Fox News anchor Megyn Kelly. “There was blood coming out of her eyes, blood coming out of her — wherever,” he told CNN’s Don Lemon.

Trump feuds with ‘low energy’ Jeb Bush

Trump debuted his biting attack on “Low Energy” Bush in August, mocking the then GOP presidential front-runner and former Florida governor with an impression that stuck with him throughout the campaign. 

Deez Nuts

A teenager filed his candidacy with the Federal Election Commission as “Deez Nuts” in August 2015. One poll found his candidacy had 9 percent support in a general election matchup in North Carolina.

Kim Davis

GOP presidential candidate Mike Huckabee rushed to the rescue of Kentucky county clerk Kim Davis, who had been jailed for refusing to issue marriage licenses to same-sex couples. He pushed for Davis’s release and walked with her out of a Kentucky jail before holding an event in her honor in September 2015.

Trump feuds with Carly Fiorina

Trump started a fight with Fiorina, the only woman in the GOP race, with a remark during a Rolling Stone interview published in September. “Look at that face. … Would anyone vote for that? Can you imagine that, the face of our next president?” he told the magazine.

Low five

Despite their contentious feud, Trump approved of Bush poking fun at the low-energy nickname and gave Bush a low five during a September debate. Bush didn’t look like he completely appreciated the Trump gesture. 

Damn emails

Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) and Hillary Clinton had a Kumbaya moment during the first Democratic primary debate in October 2015, during which he lamented that the “American people are sick and tired of hearing about [Clinton’s] damn emails.” 

Jim Webb killed a guy

When asked which enemy he’s most proud of in his life, Democratic presidential candidate Jim Webb responded at an October debate: “The enemy soldier that threw the grenade that wounded me, but he’s not around right now to talk to.”

Ben Carson stabbed a guy

Carson, at the time a GOP presidential candidate, surprised onlookers when he revealed on an October episode of NBC’s “Meet the Press” that he stabbed another boy as a 14-year-old, only to be stopped by the victim’s metal belt buckle.

Carson and the pyramids

Carson repeatedly argued in November 2015 that the Egyptian pyramids were created to store grain, despite mountains of evidence otherwise.

Baby Hitler

Carson also was on the receiving end of one of the oddest questions of the debate in November, when a satirical reporter asked him if he would travel back in time to abort baby Adolf Hitler.” “I’m not in favor of aborting anybody,” Carson said. 

The Muslim ban

As Carson briefly eclipsed him at the polls in December, Trump called for an immediate, temporary ban on Muslim immigration into the United States.

Bathroom break

ABC News’s Democratic debate in December returned from a commercial break sans one candidate — Clinton. The candidates answered questions for a moment with an empty lectern before she returned. Trump called that “disgusting” during a rally soon after. 

Two peas in a pod

Trump joined forces with 2008 vice presidential nominee Sarah Palin when she endorsed him in January. Thanking the “rock ‘n’ rollers and holy rollers,” Palin seemed right at home on the stump in Iowa but quickly disappeared again from the public eye. 

Thanks, but no thanks

Angry with Fox News over his spat with Kelly, Trump skipped the final Republican debate before the Iowa caucuses to hold his own event in late January, a fundraiser for veterans. Huckabee and former Sen. Rick Santorum (R-Pa.), who both missed the main-stage debate cut, showed up at the event after the undercard debate.

Hawkeye shenanigans

Texas Sen. Ted Cruz’s victory in the February Iowa GOP caucuses came with controversy. Carson’s camp accused Cruz’s team of pushing a rumor that he had dropped out in order to benefit its candidate, and Trump seized on those accusations and said Cruz stole the state from him. 

Trump feuds with pope

Pope Francis noted in February that building walls and promising mass deportation is “not Christian.” Trump responded with a statement that said, “For a religious leader to question a person’s faith is disgraceful.”

Rubio called a robot

New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie (R) lambasted Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.) during a February debate by calling him a robot for repeating the same talking points time and time again. Christie’s days were already numbered, but Rubio never recovered. 

Christie endorses Trump

After Christie dropped out in February, he jumped behind Trump, despite his previous criticism of the GOP front-runner. During a joint appearance in Texas, Christie called Trump “the clear standout.”

But Christie goes viral

Video of Christie’s face during that speech lit up the internet, with many mocking him for staring blankly behind Trump as he spoke.

Penis jokes

Rubio chided Trump’s small hands at a March rally, prompting Trump to tell a debate audience there was “no problem” in that area. 

Too little too late

2012 GOP nominee Mitt Romney hammered Trump in a March speech, calling on his party to reject the “con man.” 

Battery allegations

Then-Breitbart News reporter Michelle Fields accused Trump campaign manager Corey Lewandowski of pulling her by the arm after a press conference in March. He was charged with battery, though the charges were later dropped.

Off-color

Clinton and New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio took the stage during an April fundraiser in New York, where the two made an off-color joke about running late on “colored-people time.” 

Cruz makes deal with Kasich

Cruz and Ohio Gov. John Kasich (R) formed an ill-fated alliance in late April in which Cruz would stop campaigning in Oregon while Kasich stood down in Indiana in the hopes of carving up the map and stopping Trump. The plan fell apart just days later as Kasich publicly refused to play ball.  

Cruz makes deal with Fiorina

Cruz put the cart before the horse in April, naming Fiorina his vice presidential nominee. The only problem was that Cruz trailed Trump in the delegate count by a large margin and dropped out of the presidential race a week later.

Tell me how you really feel

Freed from the shackles of office, former House Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio) blasted Cruz as “Lucifer in the flesh” and a “miserable son of a b—-” during an April talk at Stanford University.

Trump makes JFK allegation

As the GOP primaries drew to a close in May, Trump promoted a National Enquirer story linking Cruz’s father to the assassination of President John F. Kennedy.

Cruz blows up

With his presidential campaign coming to an end, Cruz unloaded on Trump for the JFK rumor and for tweeting an unflattering photo of his wife in late March. On the day of the May Indiana primary, Cruz slammed Trump as a “pathological liar,” “utterly amoral,” “a narcissist” and a “serial philanderer.” 

Not ready

Days after Republican National Committee Chairman Reince Priebus named Trump the presumptive nominee, Ryan in May said he was “not ready” to back Trump. He later reversed course and endorsed, but has kept his distance since. 

Trump celebrates Cinco de Mayo

Trump celebrated Cinco de Mayo by tweeting a photo of him eating a taco bowl from a restaurant at one of his buildings. Democrats ridiculed the tweet as being in poor taste.

Sin City convention chaos

As Sanders supporters jockeyed for a last-ditch delegate grab, the May Nevada Democratic convention erupted into chaos as some delegates became violent. Sanders and Clinton surrogates sparred over the fallout as Sanders refused to apologize.

Sanders slow walks

Sanders refused to endorse Clinton days after the Democratic primaries ended in June, releasing a video to supporters telling them he’d bring his fight to the national convention.

Campaign reset

The Trump campaign fired Lewandowski in June amid infighting among his campaign staff. He quickly took a job with CNN. 

Extreme carelessness

FBI Director James Comey announced his recommendation that Clinton face no charges in her use of a private email server from her time as secretary of State. His July 5 declaration that Clinton was “extremely careless” angered Republicans who believed the evidence points to prosecution.

Thanks, but no thanks

In a stunning rebuke, Cruz chose not to endorse Trump during his speech at the Republican National Convention in July. That drew major blowback for Cruz, who was booed both on the convention stage and by his hometown delegation the next morning, and he eventually reversed his decision in late September.

WikiLeaks hack part 1

On July 22, the Friday before the Democratic National Convention began, WikiLeaks dropped a trove of damaging emails from the Democratic Party that showed top officials favoring Clinton over Sanders. That damaged Clinton’s relationship with Sanders supporters and prompted the resignation of Democratic National Committee Chairwoman Debbie Wasserman Schultz.

First lady at convention

First lady Michelle Obama’s Democratic convention speech won praise from across the political spectrum, as the emotional Obama connected her family’s path to becoming the first black family in the White House to the American story.

Trump feuds with Khizr Khan

Trump drew flack from both sides of the aisle when he criticized the family of Capt. Humayun Khan, a Muslim American soldier killed in Iraq whose father spoke at the Democratic National Convention with his mother. The GOP nominee suggested that Khan’s mother didn’t speak because of her religion, and surrogates continued to criticize the pair for their political comments. 

Trump welcomes Russian hacking

As the Democrats held their convention, Trump said he hoped Russian hackers were able to recover Clinton’s deleted emails from her private server. “Russia, if you are listening, I hope you’re able to find the 30,000 emails that are missing. … I think you will probably be rewarded mightily be our press. 

Second Amendment people

Trump suggested to his supporters during an August rally that “Second Amendment people” could rise up against Clinton if she tries to restrict gun rights.

Trump goes full Breitbart

Trump fired campaign chairman Paul Manafort in August as his campaign entered a rocky stretch and replaced him with the combination of pollster Kellyanne Conway and Breitbart News leader Steven Bannon. It was a turn toward the “alt-right” for Trump.

Stumbles

After Clinton developed pneumonia on the trail, a diagnosis not initially publicized, she stumbled and appeared to almost faint while at a 9/11 memorial event in New York City. Video of the incident went viral and added fuel to Trump allies’ rumors about her health. It was perhaps the lowest moment in Clinton’s campaign. 

What’s Aleppo?

Libertarian nominee Gary Johnson swung and missed when asked about the humanitarian crisis in the city of Aleppo in September, underscoring concerns that the presidential hopeful isn’t prepared on the foreign-policy front. 

Miss Universe

Clinton unveiled a coordinated attack on Trump during the first general election debate of 2016 on Sept. 26 when she referenced his treatment of a former Miss Universe who gained weight after she won the crown. Alicia Machado kept the story front-and-center by doing the media rounds, and a number of profiles about her relationship with Trump were published in the coming days.

No new taxes

Just five days after the debate and with Trump still fighting the Machado narrative, The New York Times published a few pages sent to the paper anonymously that showed Trump took an almost $1 billion loss on his 1995 taxes. That could have allowed him to avoid paying federal income taxes for 18 years.

Affordable Care Gaffe

Former President Bill Clinton broke from the script and created a mini-firestorm when he called ObamaCare ‘the craziest thing in the world” in early October.  

Raw tape

The release of 2005 Trump footage from a hot “Access Hollywood” microphone roiled the race in October, as it captured Trump talking about groping women without consent and chasing married women. The GOP condemned him, with some members even calling on him to step down and Ryan effectively conceding he won’t win the presidency just three days later. 

Trump brings Clinton accusers to debate

Looking to put pressure on Hillary Clinton after the tape’s release, Trump held a press conference hours before the second debate on Oct. 9 with three women who accused Bill Clinton of sexual assault and another whose alleged rapist Hillary Clinton defended as a lawyer.

WikiLeaks hack part 2

Soon after the Trump tapes, WikiLeaks began releasing a steady trickle of private emails from top Clinton aide John Podesta.

Ken Bone

America fell in love with debate questioner Ken Bone, his red sweater and his thin mustache. After his question about the environment at the second debate, he became a viral internet sensation and did the rounds on television.

Trump accused of sexual assault

Several women said Trump made unwanted advances bordering on sexual assault three days after the second debate. At that debate, he said he had never sexually assaulted a woman. More accusations followed.

Trump says election is rigged

Trump refused to say definitively whether he would respect the results of the presidential election when asked during the final debate on Wednesday. He previously had repeatedly said the election was being rigged against him.