5 Off-Beat Questions Candidates Were Asked in New Hampshire
Candidates were asked a number of interesting questions on the trail.
— -- Ahead of next Tuesday’s New Hampshire primary, the presidential candidates have been barnstorming the Granite State, meeting as many voters as possible.
From town halls to forums and everywhere in between, here are five of the oddest questions candidates have been asked while they were campaigning and how they answered:
Who would you like to have a beer with?
At a event in Manchester on Nov. 4, Florida Sen. Marco Rubio got some light-hearted questions, including who he’d like to grab a beer with.
His answer: Hall of Fame quarterback Dan Marino; chess champion Garry Kasparov, and 18-year-old activist Malala Yousafzai (who isn't old enough to drink in the U.S.).
“She’s put a lot of work into an 18 years of life,” Rubio said.
“I think she’s a really fascinating story," he added of Yousafazi. "And that courage that she’s taken and speak out on global issues, especially impacting young girls. So someone I have never met before."
If you could go back in time…
Aboard Jeb Bush’s campaign bus that was driving through New Hampshire, the Huffington Post asked Bush what was the funniest or most bizarre email he’s received.
“If you could go back in time and kill baby Hitler, would you? I need to know," Bush said quoting the email.
The Huffington Post then posed the question to Bush.
Bush’s answer: “Hell yeah, I would!”
“Even if he was really cute?” the Huffington Post asked.
“Look you gotta step up, man,” Bush said.
Who is your favorite ‘Star Wars’ character?
The release of “Star Wars: The Force Awakens” led to some unorthodox inquiries.
During a campaign stop at St. Anselm College in November, Rubio was asked which “Star Wars” character he identified with as a kid.
“I used to hate Darth Vader. Now, I kind of feel a little bit sorry for him because I know what he went through to get to that point,” Rubio said of the iconic villain. “He’s probably the most fascinating character in the whole movie, because it started out as this individual with a tremendous amount of talent and promise, then something went wrong.
“So now I am torn, do I still hate Darth Vader? I don’t know.”
At a Manchester town hall in January, Ted Cruz got a slightly different question: Would he join the Jedi force against Citizens United?
A huge self-proclaimed “Star Wars” fan, Cruz accepted the lightsaber he was handed, but ultimately turned down joining the attendee’s cause, fighting against corporate campaign funding.
"I believe in the American people and Democracy and the more you silence citizens, the more the Empire and the Death Star and the power of government gets stronger because you’re silencing citizens," Cruz said in defense of the court decision.
Cruz did admit the question was off-beat: “Well I will say that may win the prize for the most unique question I have gotten on the campaign trail.”
If you become president…
Arguably not as strange as it is ambitious, one woman at Trump’s campaign rallies in Windham, New Hampshire asked the Republican candidate if she could attend his inauguration.
“I’m gonna ask you the question my sister asked in 1984 to Ronald Reagan. Her question was, ‘When you win the election can I go to the inauguration?’” the lady said.
Trump seemed amused: “So, let me ask you what did Ronald Reagan say?”
“But of course. Give your personal information to the guy over there,” the woman recalled.
Trump was surprised and asked if the woman’s sister attended Reagan’s inauguration, to which the woman answered that her sister did.
“Alright, then I’ll give the same exact answer that Ronald Reagan gave,” Trump said to applause. “That’s a very expensive question.”