GOP front-runner Donald Trump has gotten a lot of flak for some of the ridiculous statements he's made this campaign season, including that women who seek abortions should be punished, and that Mexico should pay for a wall at the U.S. border. There's no shortage of lists of the shocking things he's said.
But Trump isn't the only 2016 candidate to make erroneous claims on the campaign trail. Former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said that the Reagans "started a national conversation" about HIV and AIDS, and she later walked back her statement, calling it a "mistake." According to The New York Times, Ronald Reagan didn't give a speech about the disease until 1987, when an estimated 40,000 people had already died of AIDS.
And Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders thought New York City's subway system still used tokens.
We've rounded up gaffes, "misstatements" and some of the most outlandish, surprising, and just plain false claims the 2016 candidates have made during the current campaign season. To err is human — but there are some serious whoppers here…
Molly Horan contributed reporting.
Editor's note: This slideshow was originally focused on Trump's quotes on the campaign trail. It has been expanded to include the other candidates still in the running.
Donald Trump
During a rally in Lakeland, FL, Trump criticized the NFL's concussion protocol and seemed to dismiss the grave consequences players can have after having a concussion.
"That woman was out cold, and now she’s coming back. See?" he said, after a female supporter came back to the rally after having fainted. "We don’t go by these new, and very much softer, NFL rules. 'Concussion, oh! Oh! Got a little ding on the head. No, no, you can’t play for the rest of the season.' Our people are tough."
Photo: Ron Sachs/REX/Shutterstock.
Donald Trump
In an interview with Las Vegas’ KSNV-TV, the candidate said that all his outrageous comments about women were solely for their entertainment value.
"A lot of that was done for the purpose of entertainment; there's nobody that has more respect for women than I do," he said.
"Are you trying to tone it down now?" reporter Jim Snyder asked him.
"It's not a question of trying; it's very easy," Trump answered.
Photo: Ron Sachs/REX/Shutterstock.Donald Trump
While at an event at the Retired American Warriors PAC in Herndon, VA, the Republican candidate suggested that veterans with PTSD are not strong, Politico reported.
Trump — who did not serve in the Vietnam War because he deferred his draft five times and was eventually medically disqualified — tried to explain what PTSD is after saying there are around 22 veteran suicides a day.
"When people come back from war and combat — and they see things that maybe a lot of the folks in this room have seen many times over, and you’re strong and you can handle it, but a lot of people can’t handle it," he said. "And they see horror stories. They see events that you couldn’t see in a movie. Nobody would believe it."
Photo: Ron Sachs/REX/Shutterstock.Donald Trump
The GOP nominee is not letting go of his feud with former Miss Universe Alicia Machado. In an overnight tweet storm, the candidate slut-shamed the Venezuelan beauty queen and urged his followers to check out her alleged sex tape.
He tweeted, "Did Crooked Hillary help disgusting (check out sex tape and past) Alicia M become a U.S. citizen so she could use her in the debate?"
The claims that Machado has a sex tape are false, according to Snopes. Trump also alleged that Hillary Clinton helped the beauty queen obtain her citizenship for political gain, a theory he can't prove.
Photo: Ron Sachs/REX/Shutterstock.
Gary Johnson
The Libertarian nominee had another "Aleppo moment" during an MSNBC town hall.
When asked who his favorite foreign leader was, Johnson found himself unable to answer.
Chris Matthews prodded him, “Anywhere, any continent.”
But Johnson still couldn't name any world leader.
“I guess I’m having an Aleppo moment,” he answered, referring to an incident earlier this month where he didn't know what the Syrian city was or that it is at the center of the Syrian refugee crisis.
“I’m giving you the whole world!” Matthews countered.
“I know,” Johnson replied. Eventually he offered “the former president of Mexico,” referring to Donald Trump's critic Vicente Fox. But still, the candidate couldn't name him.
Photo: George Frey / Getty Images.Donald Trump
During a rally in Miami, the Republican candidate suggested that the Secret Service agents protecting Hillary Clinton should disarm due to her gun control policies.
"I think that her bodyguards should drop all weapons…I think they should disarm immediately. What do you think, yes? Take their guns away — she doesn't want guns…Let's see what happens to her," he said. "Take their guns away, okay? It'll be very dangerous."
He also falsely said that Clinton wants to “destroy your Second Amendment,” The New York Times reported.
Photo: Ron Sachs/REX/Shutterstock.Donald Trump
"Hillary Clinton also supports abortion until an hour before birth," the GOP leader said in a letter addressed to pro-life leaders. "And she will only appoint Supreme Court justices who share this view."
The document, published by Susan B. Anthony List, an organization that opposes abortion, is an invitation to join Trump's "Pro-Life Coalition."
Clinton does supports abortions with few restrictions, though, and her position is consistent with Roe v. Wade, The Cut reported.
Photo: Ron Sachs/REX/Shutterstock.
Gary Johnson
Libertarian party candidate Gary Johnson flubbed an interview with MSNBC’s Morning Joe on Thursday when he couldn’t place the name of one of the United States’ biggest foreign policy concerns.
“What would you do about Aleppo?” contributor Mike Barnicle asked, referring to the Syrian city at the center of the civil war and refugee crisis.
But the question stumped Johnson. “What is Aleppo?” he asked.
Barnicle asked, “You're kidding?"
“No,” replied Johnson, obviously confused.
Watch the odd exchange here.
Johnson later acknowledged and apologized for his mistake in a statement that was posted on Twitter, saying that the gaffe “[set] aside any doubt that [he's] human.”
“Can I name every city in Syria? No. Should I have identified Aleppo? Yes. Do I understand its significance? Yes.” He said that he had blanked on the question, identifying Aleppo as an acronym for something as opposed to the name of the city. He added that, though there are many things he didn’t know “off the top of [his] head,” as a leader, he intended to surround himself with people and resources that allowed him to make informed decisions.
Ed. note: This slide has been updated to include Johnson's response.
Photo: George Frey / Getty Images.Donald Trump
During an hour-long speech addressing his immigration policies, Trump suggested that the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) could maybe deport his Democratic opponent.
"Within ICE, I am going to create a new special deportation task force focused on identifying and quickly removing the most dangerous criminal illegal immigrants in America who have evaded justice just like Hillary Clinton has evaded justice, okay?," he said. "Maybe they'll be able to deport her."
Photo: Ron Sachs/REX/Shutterstock.Donald Trump
After Huma Abedin, a top Hillary Clinton aide, announced her separation from husband Anthony Weiner, the GOP candidate said that the really personal situation could also be a matter of national security.
"Huma is making a very wise decision. I know Anthony Weiner well, and she will be far better off without him," he said in a statement, according to The New York Times.
He added, "I only worry for the country, in that Hillary Clinton was careless and negligent in allowing Weiner to have such close proximity to highly classified information. Who knows what he learned and who he told? It’s just another example of Hillary Clinton’s bad judgment. It is possible that our country and its security have been greatly compromised by this."
Photo: Ron Sachs/REX/Shutterstock.Donald Trump
Following the shooting of Nykea Aldridge, NBA player Dwayne Wade's cousin, in Chicago, Trump tweeted, "Dwyane Wade's cousin was just shot and killed walking her baby in Chicago. Just what I have been saying. African-Americans will VOTE TRUMP!"
He did not offer any insight into what aspect of this tragedy would cause the Black community to rally around him, but according to a July poll from The Wall Street Journal and NBC News, Trump has just 6% of the Black vote.
Photo: Ron Sachs/REX/Shutterstock.Donald Trump
The GOP nominee called his Democratic opponent a "bigot" and accused her of not treating minorities as people.
"Hillary Clinton is a bigot who sees people of color only as votes, not as human beings worthy of a better future," Trump said at a campaign rally in Jackson, MS. "She doesn't care what her policies have done to your communities. She has no remorse. She's going to do nothing for Hispanics and African-Americans."
Photo: Ron Sachs/REX/Shutterstock.Donald Trump
During a rally in North Carolina in August, the GOP nominee did something he hasn't done in over 14 months of campaigning — he expressed regret over some of his controversial statements.
"Sometimes, in the heat of debate and speaking on a multitude of issues, you don't choose the right words or you say the wrong thing. I have done that. And believe it or not, I regret it. And I do regret it, particularly where it may have caused personal pain. Too much is at stake for us to be consumed with these issues," he said, adding, "But one thing I can promise you is this: I will always tell you the truth."
However, he didn't specify which comments he regretted.
Photo: Ron Sachs/REX/Shutterstock.Donald Trump
During a speech in Florida, Trump said President Obama had founded ISIS.
"In many respects, you know, they honor President Obama," Trump said, according to NBC News. "He's the founder of ISIS. He's the founder of ISIS. He's the founder. He founded ISIS."
He added, "I would say the cofounder would be crooked Hillary Clinton."
Photo: Ron Sachs/REX/Shutterstock.Donald Trump
During a speech in North Carolina, Trump suggested — likely as a joke — that "Second Amendment people " have the power to change Hillary Clinton's judicial nominations.
"If she gets to pick her judges, nothing you can do, folks," Trump said. "Although, the Second Amendment people, maybe there is, I don't know."
Jason Miller, the Trump campaign's senior communications adviser, then issued a statement about Trump's comments. "It's called the power of unification — Second Amendment people have amazing spirit and are tremendously unified, which gives them great political power. And this year, they will be voting in record numbers, and it won't be for Hillary Clinton; it will be for Donald Trump," Miller said in the statement.
Meanwhile, Clinton's campaign issued a statement about his remarks, too. "This is simple — what Trump is saying is dangerous," Robby Mook, campaign manager at Hillary for America, said in a statement. "A person seeking to be the president of the United States should not suggest violence in any way."
Photo: Ron Sachs/REX/Shutterstock.Donald Trump
"Well, we have so many different ones to choose," Trump said when asked which women he'd name to his Cabinet in an interview with Florida's First Coast News. "I can tell you everybody would say, 'Put Ivanka in, put Ivanka in,' you know that, right? She's very popular, she's done very well, and you know Ivanka very well. But there really are so many that are really talented people."
The GOP presidential candidate declined to name any of these talented women, however, other than joking that he'd include Angelia Savage, who was conducting the interview.
Photo: Ron Sachs/REX/Shutterstock.
Donald Trump
The Republican nominee offered a confusing explanation on what he thinks of the annexation of Crimea, and whether he might recognize Russia's claim of the Ukrainian territory.
"The people of Crimea, from what I've heard, would rather be with Russia than where they were," he told ABC News' George Stephanopoulos. "And you have to look at that, also."
The candidate also mentioned that, if elected this fall, he wouldn't let President Vladimir Putin invade Ukraine. Stephanopoulos pointed out that Russian troops had been in Crimea since 2014.
"He's not going into Ukraine, okay, just so you understand," Trump continued, presumably talking about how he would stop Putin from making further incursions. "He's not going to go into Ukraine, all right? You can mark it down. You can put it down. You can take it anywhere you want."
Photo: Ron Sachs/REX/Shutterstock.Donald Trump
Trump isn't enthused about his daughter Ivanka's friendship with Chelsea Clinton, he said in a press conference on July 29.
"I asked Ivanka, I said, 'Do you like Chelsea?’" he told press.
She replied that she did. "I wish you didn't, it would be a lot easier,” he said.
Ivanka Trump and Chelsea Clinton are known to be friends and have more or less stayed out of the increasingly vitriolic presidential race between their respective parents.
Photo: Ron Sachs/REX/Shutterstock.Donald Trump
"I'd like to hear his wife say something," Trump told The New York Times in response to criticism from the Muslim father of a deceased Army hero.
Muslim lawyer Khizr Khan, the father of Army Captain Humayun Khan, who was killed by a suicide bomber in Iraq in 2004, had criticized Trump in a powerful speech at the Democratic National Convention. His wife, Ghazala, shared the stage with him, but did not speak.
"Donald Trump, you're asking Americans to trust you with their future," Khan said in his speech. "Let me ask you, have you even read the United States Constitution?"
Photo: Ron Sachs/REX/Shutterstock.Donald Trump
During a press conference in July, Donald Trump suggested that Russian hackers should investigate Hillary Clinton's emails. "Russia, if you're listening, I hope you're able to find the 30,000 emails that are missing," Trump said during the conference. "I think you will probably be rewarded mightily by our press."
Trump then clarified in a Fox & Friends interview that he was being "sarcastic" in his comments.
Photo: Ron Sachs/REX/Shutterstock.Donald Trump
Trump took to Twitter to respond to Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg's comment that he was a faker.
"Justice Ginsburg of the U.S. Supreme Court has embarrassed all by making very dumb political statements about me. Her mind is shot - resign!" he tweeted on July 13.
Photo: Ron Sachs/REX/Shutterstock.
Donald Trump
In a North Carolina rally on Tuesday, July 5, Trump praised the handling of national security by Saddam Hussein. The former Iraqi dictator was executed for crimes against humanity in 2006.
“He was a bad guy — really bad guy," Trump said at the rally. "But you know what he did well? He killed terrorists. He did that so good. They didn't read them the rights. They didn't talk. They were a terrorist, it was over. Today, Iraq is Harvard for terrorism."
Photo: Ron Sachs/REX/Shutterstock.Donald Trump
During a speech about trade in New Hampshire on Thursday, June 30, Trump suggested that a plane overhead could be an attack from Mexico.
"That could be a Mexican plane up there — they're getting ready to attack," Trump said at the event.
Photo: Ron Sachs/REX/Shutterstock.Donald Trump
"Look, if the pound goes down, they're going to do more business," Trump said when asked about the financial impact of Brexit. "When the pound goes down, more people are coming to Turnberry," he said, referring to his newly reopened golf course in Scotland.
Trump also tweeted, "America is proud to stand shoulder-to-shoulder w/a free & ind UK. We stand together as friends, as allies, & as a people w/a shared history."
Photo: Ron Sachs/REX/Shutterstock.Donald Trump
"Appreciate the congrats for being right on radical Islamic terrorism, I don't want congrats, I want toughness & vigilance. We must be smart!" — on Twitter, as the tragedy of the Orlando shooting unfolded
After sending the tweet on Sunday, Trump told CBS on Monday that the tragedy, which left at least 50 people dead, could be repeated if President Obama doesn't refer to it as "radical Islamic terrorism."
"Believe me, all I want is safety, I want safety for this country," Trump told CBS This Morning. "What happened yesterday will happen many times over with a president like Obama that doesn't even want to use the term 'radical Islamic terrorism.'"
Photo: Ron Sachs/REX/Shutterstock.Donald Trump
"I'm building a wall. It's an inherent conflict of interest," Trump on the federal judge presiding over lawsuits against his embattled Trump University. Trump told the Wall Street Journal that U.S. District Judge Gonzalo Curiel has "an absolute conflict" in the case because he is "of Mexican heritage."
Photo: Ron Sachs/REX/Shutterstock.Donald Trump
"Number one, I have great respect for women. I was the one that really broke the glass ceiling on behalf of women, more than anybody in the construction industry," Trump said to Bill O'Reilly on Fox News Monday. "My relationship, I think, is going to end up being very good with women."
Photo: Ron Sachs/REX/Shutterstock.Donald Trump
In a 2004 interview with Dateline, Trump spoke about his response to a former employee’s pregnancy by calling it "inconvenient" for a business. “[It’s] a wonderful thing for the woman, it’s a wonderful thing for the husband, it’s certainly an inconvenience for a business. And whether people want to say that or not, the fact is it is an inconvenience for a person that is running a business."
Photo: Ron Sachs/REX/Shutterstock.Donald Trump
"She's a woman that's been very ineffective, other than she's got a big mouth," Trump said of Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren at a press conference Thursday. "I don't know if you'd call it a fraud or not, but she was able to get into various schools because of the fact she applied as a Native American, and [she was] probably able to get other things," Trump added. "I think she's as Native American as I am, OK?"
Photo: Ron Sachs/REX/Shutterstock.Donald Trump
"You mean Pocahontas?" Trump said to New York Times columnist Maureen Dowd, in reference to Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D). The remark came when Dowd asked Trump if he'd faced backlash from Republicans for his Twitter feud with the senator.
Photo: Ron Sachs/REX/Shutterstock.
Hillary Clinton
"Let me say that I don't think he's had a single negative ad ever run against him. And that's fine," Clinton said of Sanders during a May appearance on Meet the Press. "But we know what we're going into, and we understand what it's going to take to win in the fall. And finally, I would say that, you know, polls this far out mean nothing."
As PolitiFact pointed out, Clinton's claims about Sanders and campaign ads aren't entirely true. Several ads from other Democratic groups, including some that support Clinton, have released attack ads against Sanders.
Photo: Broadimage/REX/Shutterstock.
Hillary Clinton
"We're going to put a lot of coal miners and coal companies out of business." — at a CNN town hall in March. Clinton recently apologized for the statement, which resurfaced as she picked up campaigning in West Virginia, calling it a "misstatement." "What I said was totally out of context from what I meant," she said. "It was a misstatement, because what I was saying is that the way things are going now, we will continue to lose jobs."
Photo: Broadimage/REX/Shutterstock.Donald Trump
"All of the men, we're petrified to speak to women anymore. We may raise our voice. You know what? The women get it better than we do, folks. They get it better than we do. If she didn't play that card, she has nothing." — on Hillary Clinton and the "women's card" at a campaign rally in Spokane, Washington, in May 2016
Photo: Ron Sachs/REX/Shutterstock.Donald Trump
"Happy #CincoDeMayo! The best taco bowls are made in Trump Tower Grill. I love Hispanics!" — in a tweet on May 5, 2016
Photo: Ron Sachs/REX/Shutterstock.Donald Trump
"We can't continue to allow China to rape our country" — on America's trade deficit with China.
Photo: Ron Sachs/REX/Shutterstock.Hillary Clinton
"I have a lot of experience dealing with men who sometimes get off the reservation in the way they behave and how they speak." — to CNN's Jake Tapper, ignoring the phrase's origins, which are offensive to Native Americans. Her campaign later apologized.
Photo: Broadimage/REX/Shutterstock.Donald Trump
"I think the only card she has is the women's card," Trump said of Hillary Clinton's presidential campaign. "She has got nothing else going. Frankly, if Hillary Clinton were a man, I don't think she would get 5% of the vote. And the beautiful thing is, women don't like her."
Photo: Ron Sachs/REX/Shutterstock.Hillary Clinton
"It's not been as widespread as it has been made out to be." — on the Department of Veterans Affairs scandal, which exposed the dismal healthcare coverage many veterans experience
Photo: Broadimage/REX/Shutterstock.
John Kasich
"Well, I would give you, I'd also give you one bit of advice. Don't go to parties where there's a lot of alcohol. OK? Don't do that." — on avoiding sexual assault
Photo: REX/Shutterstock.
Bernie Sanders
"You get a token, and you get on." — on the New York City subway system, which hasn't used tokens since 2003
Photo: RMV/REX/Shutterstock.
Ted Cruz
"I think they cancelled their football program and brought in a girls' junior high team." — on the Texas Longhorns' loss to the Iowa State Cyclones
Photo: Brandon Marshall/REX/Shutterstock.Donald Trump
"You could see there was blood coming out of her eyes, blood coming out of her wherever. In my opinion, she was off base." — on Fox News host Megyn Kelly, after she moderated a GOP debate
Photo: Ron Sachs/REX/Shutterstock.John Kasich
"We just got an army of people, who, and many women, who left their kitchens to go out and go door to door and to put yard signs up for me." — on winning his 1978 Ohio state Senate campaign
Photo: REX/Shutterstock.
Ted Cruz
"If Donald Trump dresses up as Hillary Clinton, he still can't go to the girls' bathroom." — on North Carolina's LGBTQ discrimination law
Photo: Brandon Marshall/REX/Shutterstock.Hillary Clinton
"I don't know where he was when I was trying to get health care in '93 and '94, standing up the insurance companies, standing up against the drug companies." — on Bernie Sanders during a campaign event in St. Louis. Sanders' aides responded to the statement by tweeting an image of Sanders standing behind Clinton at an event to promote healthcare reform in 1993.
Photo: Broadimage/REX/Shutterstock.Donald Trump
"Donald J. Trump is calling for a total and complete shutdown of Muslims entering the United States until our country's representatives can figure out what is going on." — Trump's campaign in a December statement just days after the mass shooting in San Bernardino, CA.
Photo: Ron Sachs/REX/Shutterstock.
Bernie Sanders
"Greed, fraud, dishonesty, arrogance. These are just some of the adjectives we use to describe Wall Street." — in a tweet about Wall Street
Photo: RMV/REX/Shutterstock.Hillary Clinton
"That's what they offered…Every secretary of state that I know has done that." — Clinton said at a CNN town hall event, after being asked about the $675,000 she accepted from Goldman Sachs for delivering three speeches. She later said, "They're not giving me that much money now."
Photo: Broadimage/REX/Shutterstock.Donald Trump
"There has to be some form of punishment." — on women who seek abortions (Trump later backtracked on this statement.)
Photo: Ron Sachs/REX/Shutterstock.Bernie Sanders
"It's something I have not studied, honestly, the legal implications of that." — Sanders said of bringing Metropolitan Life Insurance under the financial regulatory scheme. The comment came during an interview with the New York Daily News ' editorial board, in which Sanders floundered while answering questions about the specifics of his plans to break up Wall Street institutions.
Photo: RMV/REX/Shutterstock.Donald Trump
"Look at those hands. Are they small hands? And [Republican candidate Marco Rubio] referred to my hands — if they're small, something else must be small. I guarantee you there's no problem, I guarantee." — on his penis.
Photo: Ron Sachs/REX/Shutterstock.Ted Cruz
"I didn't want a shutdown. Throughout the whole thing, I said we shouldn't have a shutdown…Now, folks here can disagree. But repeatedly, I voted to keep the government open." — on the government shutdown, which Cruz helped lead in 2013
Photo: Brandon Marshall/REX/Shutterstock.Hillary Clinton
"Libya was a different kind of calculation. And we didn't lose a single person." — Clinton said at an MSNBC town hall event in March of the 2011 intervention. Four Americans, including U.S. Ambassador J. Christopher Stevens, died in 2012 at the U.S. outpost in Benghazi.
Photo: Broadimage/REX/Shutterstock.Donald Trump
"When Mexico sends its people, they're not sending their best. They're sending people that have lots of problems, and they're bringing those problems to us. They're bringing drugs. They're bringing crime. They're rapists. And some, I assume, are good people." — on Mexico and immigration
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