英语学习：2016美国总统大选难忘瞬间

友谊的真诚

2016年总统大选已经落下帷幕，但过去一年多，发生过不少历史性的瞬间。它们或让人捧腹，或颇为尴尬。现在就盘点2016年美国总统大选十个难忘时刻。
特朗普首次演讲就开启狂喷模式
2015年6月，当唐纳德·特朗普在纽约第五大道的特朗普大厦里意气风发地从二楼乘扶梯缓缓降至一楼，宣布他要参加这一届的总统大选时，这在当时还算不上什么大新闻。作为家乡媒体的《纽约时报》只是在第16页里顺带提了一下此事。然而他那场45分钟的演讲却为接下来的500个日夜铺开了路线图。在演讲里，特朗普狂喷了墨西哥裔的强奸犯，并表示要在美墨边境上建造一堵墙；他还抱怨美国处处打败仗（包括经贸仗），称美国应拿走伊拉克的石油，以免它落入“伊斯兰国”之手。特朗普还怒骂美国在经贸上的“愚蠢”，并针对很多其他话题开炮。


GOING DOWN?
Donald Trump’s long ride down the escalator at Trump Tower to announce his presidential bid in June 2015 wasn’t huge news at the time. It only merited a mention on page 16 of his hometown newspaper, the New York Times. But his 45-minute speech laid out a road map for the next 500 days. It had denunciations of rapists from Mexico, the promise to build a border wall, complaints that the United States doesn’t win anymore, assertions that the U.S. should have taken Iraq’s oil before the Islamic State group got it, rants against “stupid” trade deals and many more themes Trump has hammered on ever since.

友谊的真诚

除非选我，否则我不服
2015年8月，共和党迎来了第一次党内辩论。在台上的10名候选人中，只有特朗普唱反调地举起了手，表示他不会支持最终的共和党候选人。特朗普此举震惊了所有人。特朗普表示，让他支持最终候选人也不是不行，他说：“只要候选人是我，我还是完全可以宣誓滴！”也就是在这场辩论期间，特朗普与福克斯新闻台的女主播梅根·凯利围绕着特朗普喜欢贬低污辱女性的黑历史展开了撕逼。当被问到自己是否歧视女性时，火爆脾气的特朗普顺嘴冒出一句极为政治不正确的粗口。这段花絮也成了特朗普大选期间的一大黑点。


RAISE YOUR HAND
Trump jolted the first Republican debate in August 2015 when he was the sole candidate among 10 men on the stage to raise his hand to signal he wouldn’t pledge to support the eventual GOP nominee. The best he could offer: “I can totally make the pledge if I’m the nominee.” This was the same debate where Trump mixed it up with Fox News’ Megyn Kelly over his history of intemperate comments about women, foreshadowing a running campaign theme. Trump answered Kelly’s question about whether he was part of the “war on women” with a riff against political correctness.

友谊的真诚

“该死的邮件”
在2015年10月的民主党第一次党内辩论上，希拉里收到了她的老对手伯尼·桑德斯送上的一份大礼。桑德斯在开场时表示：“美国人民已经受够和厌倦了你的那些该死的邮件的故事了。”桑德斯的表态让“邮件门”引发的争议减轻了不少，但“邮件门”的影响其实一直没有完全消失。今年七月，美国联邦调查局局长詹姆斯·科梅宣布，他不会针对“邮件门”对希拉里发起指控，不过他也表示，希拉里她的助手在处理机密信息上“极不小心”。就在民主党党内初选即将结束时，联邦调查局宣布将重启“邮件门”的调查，看新发现的一批邮件里是否有涉密信息，使得希拉里当时强劲的风头一时受挫。然而就在选举前两天，科梅又表示，新一批发现的邮件并未改变FBI此前的结论——即希拉里不应受到指控。现在看来，这样一折腾对希拉里的选情产生了不利影响。


THOSE ‘DAMN EMAILS’
Hillary Clinton got a gift from Bernie Sanders in the first Democratic debate, in October 2015, when he seconded her dismay at all the focus on her use of a private email setup as secretary of state. “The American people are sick and tired of hearing about your damn emails,” Sanders said. That took some air out of the controversy, but it never fully went away. In July, FBI Director James Comey announced he would not recommend charges against Clinton over the email issue, but said she and her aides had been “extremely careless” in handling classified information. In the campaign’s closing days, Clinton’s momentum slowed after the FBI announced it was investigating whether there was classified information in newly discovered emails. Then, just two days before the election, Comey said the new batch of emails hadn’t changed the FBI’s conclusions that Clinton shouldn’t face charges. Republicans in Congress were sure to have more questions.

友谊的真诚

辩论转向下三路
今年三月的一场共和党辩论让人看得连尴尬症都犯了。共和党内的另一位参选人马可·卢比奥嘲笑了特朗普手上，机智的特朗普立即断定老司机卢比奥不怀好意，当下自拍胸脯保证，自己的“小丁丁”绝对不小。他对现场观众和几百万电视机前的观众朋友们郑重宣布：“他提到了我的手，如果我的手小，那么我身上另外一个东西肯定也小。可我向你们保证：它绝对没问题，我保证。”现场气氛为之尴尬。


SMALL HANDS. EWW.
A Republican debate last March strayed into cringe-inducing territory when Trump brought up GOP rival Marco Rubio’s mocking reference to his “small hands” and then volunteered some reassurance about the size of his genitals. Trump told his debate audience and millions of TV viewers: “He referred to my hands, if they’re small, something else must be small. I guarantee you: There’s no problem, I guarantee.” The arbiters of good taste had a problem with that.

友谊的真诚

打碎“玻璃天花板”
在今年7月的费城民主党大会上，希拉里一袭白衣（白色也是妇女参政权论者的象征色），站在广大选民面前，称此次竞选提名将是一场女性的盛会。她向欢呼的支持者们表示：“我很高兴这一天终于到来了。我为从小姑娘到老奶奶各个年龄段的女性感到高兴，我也为男孩和男人们感到高兴。因为在美国，无论何种壁垒倒下，都是为所有人扫清了道路。”希拉里终于打碎了那扇在2008年初选中挡住她的那块玻璃天花板，但最终还是被总统大选的玻璃天花板拦下。


CEILING: SHATTERED
She wore white, the color of suffragettes. Clinton stood before voters at the Democrats’ Philadelphia convention in July and at last claimed the presidential nomination of a major party for women. “I’m so happy this day has come,” she told cheering supporters. “Happy for grandmothers and little girls and everyone in between. Happy for boys and men, too. Because when any barrier falls in America, for anyone, it clears the way for everyone.” Clinton had finally shattered that “glass ceiling” she cracked in the 2008 campaign.

友谊的真诚

“一篮子可悲之人”
在九月的一场私人筹款会上，希拉里向支持者们称，半数的特朗普支持者可以说是“一篮子可悲之人”，并说他们是一帮“种族主义、性别歧视、恐同、恐外国人、恐伊斯兰”的人，引得现场一阵活泼的笑声。然而等她的这番话被公开曝光后，就没人笑得出来了。希拉里不得不再次发声救场，表示她上次说的话“太笼统”，并表示很后悔给“一半”特朗普的支持者贴了标签。不过她对特朗普的总体感观并没变：“他的竞选活动很大程度上是在偏见和偏执的基础上构建的，而且他还给了仇恨的眼光和声音一个全国性的平台。”


THE ‘DEPLORABLES’
Clinton drew laughter when she told supporters at a private fundraiser in September that half of Trump supporters could be lumped into a “basket of deplorables” — denouncing them as “racist, sexist, homophobic, xenophobic, Islamophobic, you name it.” No one was laughing when her remarks became public. Clinton did a partial rollback, saying she’d been “grossly generalistic” and regretted saying the label fit “half” of Trump’s supporters. But she didn’t back down from the general sentiment, saying, “He has built his campaign largely on prejudice and paranoia and given a national platform to hateful views and voices.”

友谊的真诚

希拉里摔跟头
竞选总统是一个磕磕绊绊的过程，而希拉里却在9月份真的摔了一跤。当时她正在纽约参加一场“9.11”事件的悼念活动。后来证实她当时因为肺炎而存在发烧症状。希拉里向外界隐瞒了自己得肺炎的事实，甚至连她的大多数助手也被蒙在鼓里。此事也让特朗普抓住了小辫子，一再强调希拉里的“精力”不足以当总统。


A REAL STUMBLE
There are always stumbles in a presidential campaign. Clinton took a real one in September when she became overheated while attending a 9/11 memorial service in New York. It turned out she was suffering from pneumonia, a condition she’d hidden from the public and most of her aides. That gave Trump an opening to press his case that Clinton lacks the “stamina” to be president.

友谊的真诚

“衣帽间里的小玩笑”
特朗普自大豪迈的性格也是很多人喜欢他的原因之一。不过近日网上流出的一段2005年的视频却给他惹了不少祸。在这段视频里，特朗普大肆吹嘘自己的“金手指”功夫如何了得，如何强吻女性，导致他的选情一时陷入危机。民主、共和两党的政客纷纷和他划清界限，有些人甚至表示他应该退出大选。特朗普也就此事公开道歉了，而且他表示他的那些言论只不过是“衣帽间里的小玩笑”。他否认自己曾参与过他吹嘘的那种猎艳行为。


‘YOU CAN DO ANYTHING’
Trump’s living-large persona is part of his appeal for many people. But the leaked release in October of a 2005 video in which Trump boasted about groping women’s genitals and kissing them without permission threw his campaign into crisis. Politicians in both parties denounced Trump and some said he should drop out of the race. Trump apologized, but wrote off his videotaped comments as mere “locker-room banter.” He denied engaging in the kind of predatory activity he’d laughed about. But a string of women came forward to say he’d made unwanted sexual advances toward them.

友谊的真诚

拿克林顿当盾牌
眼见“性侵论”就要让特朗普毫无还手之力，这厮居然又放了个大招——“你老公当年也干过这事！”在10月份的第二次大选辩论会之前，特朗普请来了三位曾状告比尔·克林顿性侵的女性召开发布会。特朗普表示：“比尔·克林顿也糟蹋过女性。希拉里·克林顿还攻击过这些女性，并且是恶意地攻击。”


HE WENT THERE
Trump toyed throughout the campaign with bringing up allegations about Bill Clinton’s past sexual misconduct. Trump went there in a big way in October at the second presidential debate, seating three of the former president’s accusers in the front row for the faceoff. “Bill Clinton was abusive to women,” Trump said. “Hillary Clinton attacked those same women and attacked them viciously.”

友谊的真诚

不愿承认结果
由于一度陷入被动，特朗普开始大打悲情牌，称整个大选都被人操纵了，目的就是要针对他。在最后一轮大选辩论中，当被问到等大选结束后，他是否会接受选举结果时，特朗普居然拒绝回答。主持人再次施压后，特朗普才回答称：“到时候我再告诉你，现在先吊吊你的胃口。”这番惊人言论不禁令人担心大选后能否和平完成权力交接。就连共和党全国委员会都表示拒绝为特朗普的这番言论负责。



HE WOULDN’T GO THERE
As Trump’s standing in the polls faltered, he cranked up his claims that the election was being rigged against him. Asked in the final presidential debate if he would accept the results of the election, Trump refused to go there. Pressed on the matter by the debate moderator, Trump said: “I will tell you at the time. I’ll keep you in suspense.” It was a startling statement that raised uncertainty about the peaceful transfer of power after the election. Even the Republican National Committee disavowed Trump’s statement.