5 memorable presidential debate moments throughout history

Presidential primary debates can make or break a candidate’s run for the White House — either helping to clinch a nomination or stopping a campaign in its tracks.  

The stakes are high for Wednesday’s first GOP presidential primary debate as candidates vie for a breakout moment in a primary dominated by former President Trump, who is notably skipping the debate.

With Trump, the clear front-runner for the nomination, declining his invitation to participate, the eight other candidates who qualified will look to improve their standing in the polls and propel their candidacy with millions across the country watching.

Several debates throughout history have stood out as influencing the outcome of a race.

Here’s a look back on five memorable primary debate moments throughout history:

2016 Republican debate: Chris Christie on Marco Rubio’s “memorized” speech

Going into the February 2016 GOP debate, Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.) was coming off an impressive showing in the Iowa caucuses, finishing in a close third place to then-candidate Trump and Texas Sen. Ted Cruz. Trump’s eventual nomination was far from certain at this point, and Rubio was seen as a possible establishment alternative to him in the race.

But Rubio’s candidacy reached a turning point at the debate during a confrontation with then-New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie (R). The two candidates discussed Rubio’s qualifications for the presidency as a first-term senator, partially in comparison to then-President Obama, who was elected president as a first-term senator.

Christie argued his experience as a governor focusing on solving problems for the people of his state qualified him more than Rubio as a senator.

But the viral moment came when Christie called Rubio out for repeating a line multiple times in a few minutes about the need to dispel the “fiction that Barack Obama doesn’t know what he’s doing” when “he knows exactly what he’s doing” with a policy.

“I want the people at home to think about this,” Christie responded. “That’s what Washington, D.C., does. The drive-by shot at the beginning with incorrect and incomplete information and then the memorized 25-second speech that is exactly what his advisers gave him.”

Christie received significant applause for his criticism of Rubio’s line. The moment was seen as notably hurting Rubio’s candidacy, and he never reached the momentum he had going into the debate again.

Rubio argued in June that the moment did not mean the end of his campaign, and he still won and was competitive in multiple primaries. But he was ultimately not able to keep up with Trump and Cruz in the race after the debate.

1992 Democratic debate: Bill Clinton vs. Jerry Brown

President George H.W. Bush enjoyed widespread popularity following the U.S. coalition victory in the Persian Gulf War and was seen as having a strong chance of reelection heading into the 1992 presidential race.

That caused a few high-profile Democrats to pass on running and led to a wide-open field, but Bill Clinton, then the governor of Arkansas, and then-California Gov. Jerry Brown (D) eventually rose to the top of the pack.

The competition between Clinton and Brown was intense and filled with bitter attacks from both sides.

The drama reached a boiling point during a debate in March 1992 in which Brown accused Clinton of “funneling money to his wife’s law firm for state business.” Brown also alleged that Hillary Clinton’s law firm was representing clients before Arkansas state agencies.

Clinton denied the allegations and responded that he feels “sorry” for Brown, whom he argued “reinvents himself every year or two.” Clinton and Brown then more directly faced each other in a confrontation.

“Let me tell you something, Jerry. I don’t care what you say about me. I knew … that you were going to reinvent yourself and you were going to be somebody else’s mouthpiece. You would say anything. But you ought to be ashamed of yourself for jumping on my wife,” Clinton said.

“You’re not worth being on the same platform as my wife,” he continued, pointing at Brown.

Brown pointed back at Clinton, saying, “I tell you something, Mr. Clinton. Don’t try to escape it.”

Clinton soon after won a major victory on Super Tuesday to start pulling away to clinch the nomination and eventually win the election.

1984 Democratic debate: Walter Mondale’s “Where’s the beef” line

Former Vice President Walter Mondale was initially the clear front-runner in a crowded field of Democrats seeking to challenge President Reagan for reelection in 1984. But Sen. Gary Hart’s (D-Colo.) upset win over him in the Democratic primary and the Rev. Jesse Jackson emerging as another challenger gaining increasing attention put that in jeopardy.

Hart tried to cast himself as a younger alternative to Mondale with a “New Ideas” platform that he viewed as more moderate than the New Deal era of the party’s old guard. But he faced criticism over alleged vagueness and a lack of specificity in his platform.

Mondale challenged Hart head-on during a debate in March 1984 in questioning what new ideas he was proposing in calling for a restoration of entrepreneurship in the country.

“When I hear your new ideas, I’m reminded of that ad, ‘Where’s the beef?’” Mondale said, referring to the famous Wendy’s ad of the 1980s. His comment was followed by laughter from the crowd.

The moment was considered a turning point in the Democratic nominating process, symbolic of Hart’s struggles in that race in convincing voters of his platform. Mondale began increasing his lead over Hart a bit after the debate and eventually clinched the nomination a few months later.

1980 Republican debate: Ronald Reagan-George Bush Nashua debate

Reagan, who was the former governor of California and runner-up for the GOP nomination in 1976, entered the 1980 presidential race as the presumed front-runner.

He began the race with a strategy of trying to stay above the fray of the other Republican candidates, like George H.W. Bush, Sen. Bob Dole (Kansas) and Texas Gov. John Connolly, avoiding candidate forums and the first primary debate in Iowa. The candidates who attended slammed Reagan for skipping the debate, and Bush scored an upset victory in the Iowa caucuses.

The loss caused Reagan to get more aggressive in campaigning and facing off against the other candidates, and an offer to host a debate from the New Hampshire-based Nashua Telegraph presented an opportunity. The outlet offered to host a one-on-one event in late February between the top two candidates, Bush and Reagan.

Reagan offered to fund the debate to avoid the newspaper violating Federal Election Commission regulations by excluding some candidates from the event. But the governor announced shortly before the debate was held that he was going to invite the other candidates to participate, too.

This frustrated Bush, causing him to announce he would not participate unless the debate was one-on-one as the outlet proposed. Reagan and Bush appeared on stage along with the other four candidates that Reagan invited, and Reagan attempted to address those in attendance to explain why all candidates should be included.

The moderator tried to stop Reagan from speaking and asked for his microphone to be muted, to which Reagan angrily replied, “I’m paying for this microphone.” The crowd responded with thunderous applause and cheering.

The four other candidates eventually agreed to leave the stage. and the debate was only two candidates like Bush wanted, but Reagan came off appearing as strong.

Reagan went on to win the New Hampshire primary days later in a landslide and rode that to the nomination and eventually the presidency.

1948 Republican debate: Thomas Dewey vs. Harold Stassen

New York Gov. Thomas Dewey (R) was the front-runner for the GOP nomination for president going into 1948, having been the nominee four years earlier against Franklin Roosevelt and a leader of the moderate establishment wing of the party.

But former Minnesota Gov. Harold Stassen (R) threw his hat in the ring as a young liberal Republican and won surprise victories in the Wisconsin and Nebraska primaries, potentially threatening Dewey’s position as the favorite.

This led Dewey and Stassen to take part in what was the first audio-recorded presidential debate in U.S. history. Between 40 and 80 million people are estimated to have tuned in to listen to the candidates.

The topic of the debate was whether the Communist Party of the United States should be outlawed, with Stassen arguing in favor and Dewey arguing against it. The debate was just a few days before the Oregon primary.

Dewey argued that banning the Communist Party was wrong and totalitarian and was seen as the winner, helping him narrowly clinch the Oregon primary days later and the Republican nomination the next month.