7 times Bob Schieffer said exactly what U.S. was thinking about the election
Bob Schieffer, veteran CBS newsman and former host of “Face the Nation,” has never been one to hold back his comments on presidential elections.
And this year’s was no exception.
Schieffer, who’s been a reporter for more than half a century, may have retired from CBS News last year, but that didn’t stop him from closely following this year’s unique race.
While some reporters simply stated facts, Schieffer stated the cold hard truth that almost every American has been thinking throughout this campaign season: This may be the worst presidential campaign ever.
According to a new CBS News poll, compared to past years, this presidential campaign was:
- More negative: 82%
- More positive: 3%
- The same: 13%
The veteran newsman agreed with the majority.
“My mother always said, ‘Go vote: It makes you feel big and strong,”’ Schieffer told CBS Sunday Morning this week. “But when I cast my absentee ballot this year, I didn’t feel big or strong; I felt anxious and worried.”
In fact, Schieffer said, it may even be the worst campaign he’s seen.
“It’s not enough to say this was the worst campaign of my lifetime,” Schieffer continued. “This will be one of those examples we’ll use to rate future campaigns, the way we judge disasters and scandals, as in ‘the worst scandal since Watergate,’ or ‘the worst Hurricane since Katrina.”’
Throughout the course of the campaign, Schieffer has expressed his shock and disappointment -- and he wasn’t alone.
Here are 7 times Schieffer said what Americans were almost certainly thinking:
1. That time he said “this was the worst presidential campaign of my lifetime”
During an interview with CBS Sunday Morning this week, Schieffer spelled out his issues with this year’s campaign.
“Our campaigns are more than just the process where we select candidates. They should also enlighten us, help us to understand problems, and debate solutions,” Schieffer said. “This time, there was none of that. This campaign left an unsavory stain on everyone and everything it touched, including the process itself.”
It was unlike anything Schieffer had seen before.
“Political discourse ranged from allegations of old-fashioned corruption and character, to depths never before plumbed -- vulgar and rude discussions of subjects seldom mentioned in public,” he said.
2. That time he suggested America has endured “some kind of curse”
Schieffer has covered 14 presidential elections over the course of his career, but he said he’s never seen one quite like this.
“It is as if the nation is enduring some kind of curse,” Schieffer told CBS Evening News on Monday. “What should we expect next? That it will rain frogs? I wouldn’t bet against it.”
This election is not “business as usual,” Schieffer added. “This one is different, and not in a good way.”
3. That time he said he was also “disgusted” by the election
Last week in a CBS News/New York Times poll that found 82 percent of likely voters more disgusted than excited about the election.
Schieffer agreed, saying he was also “disgusted.”
“Here we have dangerous times, the threat of terrorism, the government in total gridlock ... and yet we have a campaign that’s been all about sex tapes,” Schieffer said.
4. That time he admitted this election is actually kind of “scary”
In February, Schieffer joined CBS This Morning to discuss how the closeness of the primaries -- and their increased “nastiness” -- was revealing the divide within political parties.
“This whole thing is really kind of scary,” said Schieffer, explaining that this campaign may cause an unraveling of political parties.
5. That time he asked, “How have we come to this?”
Schieffer called the second presidential debate between Clinton and Trump “disgraceful.”
“How have we come to this? This is supposed to be a campaign for the most powerful office of the land,” he explained on CBSN. “Here we’re marching in women into the hall who supposed to have some relationship with one of the candidate’s spouses. What’s that supposed to prove?”
Less than two hours before the second debate was set to begin, Trump went on Facebook Live with three women who have accused Bill Clinton of sexual misconduct and a woman whose accused rapist Hillary Clinton defended in 1975.
A campaign spokesman then announced that all four women were expected to attend the debate.
“I just hope to God I don’t see another campaign like this one,” Schieffer said. “America can do better than what we have seen here tonight.”
6. That time he slammed candidates for threatening to bring controversial guests to debates
In September, Clinton campaign spokesperson Brian Fallon gave a shout-out to Mark Cuban on Twitter after the billionaire investor and Dallas Mavericks owner -- a vocal Trump critic -- announced he’d have a front-row seat at the first presidential debate.
Trump was none too pleased.
So, the GOP hopeful threatened to place Gennifer Flowers, the ex-model who made headlines after having an extramarital relationship with Bill Clinton, “right alongside him.”
The campaign later confirmed that it did not, in fact, invite Flowers, forwhich Schieffer was grateful.
“Those kinds of things are beneath the dignity of the office that these two are running for,” said Schieffer, slamming both of campaigns for inappropriate behavior.
7. That time he said the GOP debate was “like kids out behind a barn”
On February 25, five remaining Republican presidential candidates faced off in their tenth Republican primary debate, in Houston, Texas.
But Schieffer said the GOP candidates spent more time arguing than discussing any serious issues.
“I thought things couldn’t get lower than they already reached in this campaign,” Schieffer said. “No discussion of the issues, but people arguing, screaming, hollering -- it was like kids out behind the barn rather than a political debate.”
