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The Absolute Worst Moments of the 2016 Presidential Election

From ELLE

Remember the days when we weren't entrenched in a presidential election? The process has seemed endless, from the countless primary debates to the various Clinton email scandals to the outrageous and terrible things Donald Trump has said over the past year and a half. In case you have purposely forgotten, here is a timeline of the absolute worst moments of this presidential election. Remember, it's almost over.

They're bringing drugs, they're bringing crime, they're rapists, and some, I assume, are good people.

June 16, 2015:

Donald Trump kicks off his presidential campaign by mentioning that Mexico sends criminals and rapists across the border. "When Mexico sends its people, they're not sending their best," he said. "They're sending people that have lots of problems and they're bringing those problems with us. They're bringing drugs, they're bringing crime, they're rapists, and some, I assume, are good people."

August 7, 2015:

Trump insinuated that GOP debate moderator Megyn Kelly was menstruating, and that affected how she treated him. "You could see there was blood coming out of her eyes, blood coming out of her wherever," he said. He later clarified that he meant "her ears or her nose," but the damage was already done-because women everywhere knew what it was like to have their assertiveness blamed on their periods.

August 12, 2015:

Hillary Clinton asks her Twitter followers to describe their student loan debt "in 3 emojis or less." That did not go well. "Is there a 'condescended to' emoji?" one Twitter user replied.

September 9, 2015:

Trump insulted fellow candidate Carly Fiorina's physical appearance in an interview with Rolling Stone. "Look at that face! Would anyone vote for that? Can you imagine that, the face of our next president?" Trump said. "I mean, she's a woman, and I'm not supposed to say bad things, but really, folks, come on. Are we serious?" Trump tried damage control, saying he was referring to her persona, but Fiorina dropped the mic when responding at a later debate: "I think women all over this country heard very clearly what Mr. Trump said."

November 24, 2015:

Trump gave a speech defending past claims that he heard that "thousands" of Muslims in New Jersey were celebrating when the Twin Towers fell on September 11, 2001. Trump appeared to mock reporter Serge Kovaleski, who later clarified that his past reporting didn't back up what Trump said, despite the candidate's claims. "Now, the poor guy, you ought to see this guy, 'Ah, I don't know what I said, I don't remember, I don't remember, maybe that's what I said,'" Trump said at a rally, flailing his arms. Kovaleski has arthrogryposis, which affects how his joints move. Trump denied mocking his disability, but the video is pretty clear proof.

December 7th, 2015:

Trump officially announces his plan to temporarily ban all Muslims from entering the United States, a move that was condemned as racist. "Until we are able to determine and understand this problem and the dangerous threat it poses, our country cannot be the victims of horrendous attacks by people that believe only in Jihad, and have no sense of reason or respect for human life," Trump said in a statement.

December 22, 2015:

Clinton's website publishes an article called "7 things Hillary Clinton has in common with your abuela," featuring lots of GIFs of her showing attitude and caring about kids. The post faced immediate backlash for being tone-deaf and pandering to Hispanic voters, and prompted the hashtag #NotMyAbuela. After all, Clinton does not experience the day-to-day struggles of many Hispanic women, especially older ones who worked hard to establish themselves in the United States.

February 28, 2016:

Sen. Marco Rubio insinuates that Donald Trump has a small penis during a campaign rally. "And you know what they say about men with small hands...you can't trust 'em," he joked. On March 4, Trump took time during a primary debate to defend his, uh, manhood, saying, "I guarantee you there's no problem. I guarantee."

March 23, 2016:

Trump retweets a meme comparing the looks of his wife, Melania, with an unflattering image of Heidi Cruz, Sen. Ted Cruz's wife, with the comment "a picture is worth a thousand words." "Donald, real men don't attack women. Your wife is lovely, and Heidi is the love of my life," Cruz tweeted in response.

May 3, 2016:

Trump, with help from the National Enquirer, linked Sen. Ted Cruz's father, Rafael Cruz to President John F. Kennedy's assassin, Lee Harvey Oswald. The Cruz campaign called the attack "garbage."

May 12, 2016:

During an "Ask Me Anything" session on Reddit, Green Party candidate Jill Stein, who is a doctor, made comments that many perceived to be anti-vaccine. In reality, she was attacking the medical-industrial complex and the need for government-mandated vaccines, but the comment received hundreds of "downvotes" and gave her the reputation of validating people who believe vaccines cause autism. "As a medical doctor of course I support vaccinations," she later tweeted. "I have a problem with the FDA being controlled by drug companies." According to The Atlantic, Libertarian candidate Gary Johnson is against mandatory vaccines and Trump referred to vaccines causing autism on stage at a Republican primary debate.

July 19, 2016:

Melania Trump gives a speech at the Republican National Convention, with entire sentences lifted from Michelle Obama's speech at the 2008 Democratic National Convention. Speechwriter Meredith McIver later took the fall for the plagiarism.

July 22, 2016:

Wikileaks posts hacked emails from Democratic National Committee members that showed party leaders privately mocked Sen. Bernie Sanders despite publicly appearing neutral in the primary campaign. Some emails even suggested that party leaders were strategizing against him.

July 30, 2016:

Trump attacks the family of Capt. Humayun Khan, a Muslim-American who was killed while serving in the Iraq War. His father, Khizr Khan, criticized Trump at the Democratic National Convention, while mom Ghazala stood by her husband's side. Trump said Ghazala "maybe wasn't allowed to have something to say," when in reality Ghazala says she was too stricken by grief to speak while her son's photo was visible. The Khans became a critical figure in the election, and even hit the campaign trail for Clinton.

September 8, 2016:

Johnson asks, "What is Aleppo?" on MSNBC when asked about the crisis in Syria. "I'm incredibly frustrated with myself," Johnson said later. "I have to get smarter and that's just part of the process."

September 9, 2016:

Speaking at an LGBT-themed fundraiser, Clinton calls "half" of Trump supporters a "basket of deplorables" who were "racist, sexist, homophobic, xenophobic, [or] Islamaphobic." Trump shot back, saying the comments showed "her true contempt for everyday Americans," and Clinton later said she regretted saying "half" of Trump supporters fit into that category.

"basket of deplorables"

September 11, 2016:

Clinton abruptly leaves a memorial ceremony for the victims of the 9/11 attacks, and is seen needing help to get into a van. She later admits she had been diagnosed with pneumonia and took a few days off to rest. The moment fueled attacks that the former Secretary of State did not have the "stamina" for the White House.

September 28, 2016:

During an MSNBC town hall, Johnson failed to name one world leader he admires. He then called it another "Aleppo moment."

September 30, 2016:

Trump goes into a late-night tweetstorm attacking former Miss Universe Alicia Machado, who was brought up by Hillary Clinton during a debate. Machado had gained weight during her reign as Miss Universe, and Trump allegedly fat-shamed her and forced her to work out for prying cameras. On Twitter, Trump called Machado "disgusting" and referenced a "sex tape" which was simply a clip from a reality show.

October 7, 2016:

The Washington Post reveals leaked audio from the set of Access Hollywood in 2005. In the audio, Trump is heard bragging to Billy Bush about how he can "grab [women] by the pussy" and get away with it because he's famous. After the audio leaks, more than a dozen women accuse Trump of sexual assault. Bush is later fired from NBC for his connection to the tape.

October 7, 2016:

Wikileaks unearths emails hacked from the inbox of John Podesta, chairman of Clinton's campaign. Democrats accused Russia of being behind the hack, which included up to 50,000 emails. One email showed a large list of possible running mates for Clinton, while others showed how officials were reacting to big campaign events and still others cast Clinton Foundation officials in a negative light.

October 19, 2016:

Trump says he may not accept the results of the election on November 8, saying "I will look at it at the time" and "I will keep you in suspense" during the third and final presidential debate. He insisted that the entire election has been "rigged" against him without providing proof.

October 28, 2016:

FBI Director James Comey announced authorities were looking into whether there was classified information in additional emails from Clinton's private server. The emails found were subpoenaed from Anthony Weiner's computer during the FBI's investigation on his sexting with a minor.

November 6, 2016:

Comey told lawmakers that yeah, he didn't find anything new or noteworthy in those Clinton emails after all. "Based on our review, we have not changed our conclusions that we expressed in July," Comey wrote.

"Today's letter makes Director Comey's actions nine days ago even more troubling," California senator Dianne Feinstein said in a statement. "There's no doubt that it created a false impression about the nature of the agency's inquiry."

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