From mistakenly introducing the Ukrainian president as his rival to mixing up the gate at Kabul’s international airport for a Beatles album, politicians on both sides of the aisle suffered their fair share of gaffes in 2024.
When politicians screw up on a public stage, those blunders can be, at best, meme-ified and, at worst, career-ending. As American politics continues to maintain its reputation as a gerontocracy, it’s no wonder that the news cycle seems to be dominated by clips of presidents, lawmakers and political candidates all slipping up their words.
Political gaffes are not always injurious enough to deal a fatal blow. Still, even small ones can snowball, and as the list of fumbles grows, sometimes, it can be enough to topple a candidate or campaign entirely.
No one knows this better than President Joe Biden, whose age has time and time again cast doubt over whether he was fit to serve a second term. Nearly every mix-up of Biden’s drew intense media attention and public scrutiny as observers filed each gaffe into a growing book of proof that he lacked the mental acuity to lead the country until 2029.
Eventually, all those blunders would add up, and combined with a disastrous debate performance, would ultimately lead to the end of his reelection campaign and decades-long political career.
President Joe Biden (L) speaks in Washington, D.C., on December 10. President-elect Donald Trump (R) speaks at Mar-a-Lago on November 14. Both Biden and Trump made political gaffes in 2024.
President Joe Biden (L) speaks in Washington, D.C., on December 10. President-elect Donald Trump (R) speaks at Mar-a-Lago on November 14. Both Biden and Trump made political gaffes in 2024.
Chip Somodevilla/Joe Raedle/Getty Images
And even after he would bow out of the spotlight, Biden would make another gaffe that some believe gave his political opponent a boost in the final stages of the election, clumsily saying that “the only garbage I see floating out there is [Trump’s] supporters” while addressing comments made at a Trump rally that referred to Puerto Rico as a “floating island of garbage.”
But Biden isn’t the only one to have slipped up in 2024.
President-elect Donald Trump made his own mistakes, praising “the late, great Hannibal Lecter,” the serial killer from The Silence of the Lambs, and dubbing the late President Jimmy Carter, “Jimmy Connors.”
Trump has dubbed his way of speech “the weave,” arguing it’s a skill that he’s mastered, but his rants—which have gone into the functionality of toilets and showers—have also raised concerns about his mental fitness.
Vice President Kamala Harris, Vice President-elect JD Vance, Vice Presidential candidate Tim Walz and Representative Marjorie Taylor Greene also made gaffes in 2024. One said they befriended school shooters, while another rambled about a coconut tree.
As 2025 begins, take a look back and see if you can remember who made which gaffe in Newsweek’s quiz below:
1. Joe Biden 2. Herschel Walker 3. Joe Biden 4. Donald Trump 5. Kamala Harris 6. Tim Walz 7. JD Vance 8. Pramila Jayapal 9. Marjorie Taylor Greene 10. Donald Trump