Presidential Debates Quotes

Of course a lot of the journalists hated Nixon, but they were always blown away by how smart he was.

The threshold by the Commission on Presidential Debates. In the words of the League of Women Voters, they are a fraud being perpetrated on the American public.

I've watched presidential debates since I was a teen, and I love it.

If we're not in the debates there will be no real discussion of climate change, because Hillary Clinton's policy does not begin to address the threat.

Mexico isn't a country of routine debates among presidential candidates.

No puppet. No puppet. You’re the puppet.

Unfortunately when we get to the “debates” as we all know these are never debates. There are questions where there is never a follow up, where you ask a question and I the candidate give an answer that has nothing to do with your question, and then we go on and somebody else asks the other person and back and forth. It is not just the fault of the candidates. We tend to have to have a simple short answer to complex problems for the sound byte requirements of modern journalism and perhaps the education levels of the average citizen. Complex problems can’t be reduced to that.

I was a history and government major at Ohio State University, and I've spent a lot of time just fiddling around with who the next president's going to be, over the years, or who would I like to see in that job, or whatever. And I've come to believe, without any reservation, in this era, the best-prepared person for this job by far is Donald Trump.

Whenever we meet opposition, we do not look to see if it is just, but how we can get out of it, rightly or wrongly. Instead of welcoming arms we stretch out our claws.

The best reason I can think of for not running for President of the United States is that you have to shave twice a day.

It's up to American citizens to decide who they elect as president.

I think Trump's gonna be a great president. And Hillary's a great woman too.

Those who know Governor Roosevelt [TR] must believe that he is much better fitted for the Presidency than is Mr. McKinley.

The 1980 Republican presidential contest might have been as good a roster of candidates as ever fielded by any party.

Even though I don't agree with Donald Trump on everything, and I think there may be certain things or statements of his that I may disagree with, he is a better candidate by far than Hillary Clinton.

I will seek the presidency with nothing to fall back on but the judgment of the people of the United States, and nowhere to go but the White House or home.

I'd make a better U.S. president than George W. Bush. Bush is an idiot. I'm a better public speaker than him. It makes you wonder about the voters.

Obama isn't good off the cuff, especially when challenged; he is far better with a prepared speech.

I have serious doubts about the value of debates in a presidential election. They tend to be a test of reaction time rather than a genuine exposition of the participants' philosophies and programs

It's fascinating watching the debates [of Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump], with the search for the new president. It's like a car crash, unfolding in front of your eyes. The level of personal attacks!

Presidential and vice-presidential debates are not about campaign staff or consultants, and it is high time we as a people took control and reminded them and their candidates of that important fact.

When Hillary Clinton ran against Senator [Barack] Obama she thought him naive because he thought it was a good idea to talk to our enemies. I think those are exactly the people you have to talk to and you have to negotiate with.

A candidate challenging an incumbent president has the advantage [in a debate]. The president of the United States is an awesome figure. Merely to share the platform with him on equal terms is to gain in stature: a good performance will be judged even better.

As was demonstrated back in 2012, [Barack] Obama was thought to be in big trouble after that first debate, and he wasn't, was he? That first debate didn't end up hurting Barack Obama at all, did it? I know he had incumbancy on his side, but still. He was horrible that first debate. It didn't matter because there were two more, and there are two more here.

Al Gore adopted three utterly different personas in three national presidential debates.