The Dumbest, Most Perfect, Political Question Ever (2012) [Archive Favorite]

This Day

Jody Avirgan & Radiotopia

History

4.6 • 982 Ratings

🗓️ 19 August 2025

⏱️ 20 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

It’s July 31st, 2012. This day, on the campaign trail, a reporter shouts a question at Mitt Romney: “What about your gaffes?!”

Jody, Niki, and Kellie discuss how the question came to be asked and why it perfectly encapsulates everything wrong with modern political journalism. Plus, why the other questions asked that day weren’t that much better.

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Transcript

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0:00.0	Hey there, Jody here from This Day headquarters.
0:05.5	We are taking our usual late summer break.
0:08.0	So for the next couple weeks, we are bringing you some favorites from the archives.
0:12.2	Maybe you've heard them before.
0:13.3	Maybe you haven't.
0:14.1	Either way, we think these are worth spending some time with.
0:16.4	And thanks to everyone who subscribes to our newsletter who helped vote on which episodes to rerun.
0:22.2	This is a gentle reminder to subscribe to the newsletter.
0:25.0	Also spread the word about the show to someone, leave a review, get in touch with an idea for an episode at thisdaypod.com,
0:30.9	and most importantly, enjoy the last few weeks of summer.
0:34.7	All right, here we go.
0:41.5	Hello and welcome to This Day in esoteric political history from Radiotopia. My name is Jody Averkin. This day, July 31st, 2012,
0:50.4	the presidential election is heating up. It is looking like it's going to be Mitt Romney and Barack Obama.
0:56.1	And a reporter is trailing Mitt Romney on a trip to Poland and yells out, to my mind,
1:01.8	the single greatest question in the history of political journalism.
1:06.4	Yeld at Governor Romney, what about your gaffs?
1:10.0	There it is, folks.
1:12.8	It's a beautiful, beautiful statement. Four words. Governor Romney, what about your gaffs? There it is, folks. It's a beautiful, beautiful statement.
1:18.5	Four words, Governor Romney, what about your gaffs? I want to print it on a t-shirt. I want it taught at the Columbia Journalism School. I've been waiting to do this episode, seriously, for a long,
1:23.4	long time because I think it actually says so much, and I have so many thoughts about it
1:27.2	in its place
1:28.5	in political journalism and modern politics. So here we go, here to do this episode that I've
	...

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