1 What day is the U.S. presidential election?
a. Nov. 7
b. Nov. 8
c. Nov. 9
d. Nov. 10
Answer: b. Oh dang, that’s on Tuesday!
2 How long ago, relative to Election Day, did Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump officially announce their respective campaigns for president? (Round up to the nearest month.)
a. 13 months and 11 months
b. 15 months and 18 months
c. 19 months and 17 months
d. 21 months and 19 months
Answer: c. It feels like an eternity, though.
3 Canada’s 2015 federal election lasted for 78 days, its longest ever. Based on the answer to the previous question, how many elections could Canada have held back-to-back during this U.S. election campaign?
a. Four or five
b. Six or seven
c. Eight or nine
d. 10 or 12
Answer: b. This weekend, Justin Trudeau marks the one-year anniversary of being sworn in as prime minister.
4 Where did Ms. Clinton announce her candidacy for president?
a. At her home in Chappaqua, N.Y.
b. At New York’s Central Park
c. On the U.S. Capitol lawn
d. None of the above
Answer: d. Instead of holding a public announcement ceremony, Ms. Clinton released a video announcement on YouTube before setting off for campaign events in Iowa.
5 Which of the following did Mr. Trump not say at the New York event where he announced his candidacy?
a. “I will be the greatest jobs president that God ever created.”
b. “[Mexican immigrants are] bringing drugs, they’re bringing crime, they’re rapists, and some I assume are good people, but I speak to border guards and they tell us what we are getting.”
c. “I watched when the World Trade Center came tumbling down. And I watched in Jersey City, New Jersey, where thousands and thousands of people were cheering as that building was coming down.”
d. “Our enemies are getting stronger and stronger by the day and we as a country are getting weaker.”
Answer: c. Mr. Trump did say this, but it was in an interview with ABC’s George Stephanopoulos months later.
6 In the summer of 2015, an Iowa teenager filed papers with the Federal Election Commission as a fake candidate for president who, in some states, ended up polling as high as 9 per cent. What was the candidate’s name?
a. Boaty McBoatface
b. Deez Nuts
c. Harambe
d. Big McLargeHuge
Answer: b. “Deez Nuts,” really 15-year-old Brady C. Olson, ended up endorsing Bernie Sanders. The FEC also promised to crack down on “unlawfully false and fictitious” candidates with new regulations.
7 Which of the following is not an official campaign slogan for either of the main candidates in this election?
a. “Make America Great Again”
b. “I’m With Her”
c. “Our Best America Yet”
d. “Stronger Together”
Answer: c. “Our Best America Yet” is one of the Libertarian campaign’s slogans.
8 In February, 2016, a tongue-in-cheek online campaign invited disaffected American voters to move to a region of Atlantic Canada if Mr. Trump became president. What region?
a. Annapolis Valley, N.S.
b. Cape Breton
c. Newfoundland
d. Prince Edward Island
9 What is the Green Party presidential candidate’s name?
a. Jill Stein
b. Jane Stein
c. Janice Stein
d. Joanna Stein
Answer: a. She also ran for the Greens in 2012.
10 Who is the Green Party candidate’s running mate?
a. Cheri Honkala
b. Rosa Clemente
c. Ajamu Baraka
d. David Chernushenko
Answer: c. Mr. Baraka is a human-rights activist.
11 How many contenders were there initially for the Republican presidential nomination?
a. Seven
b. 11
c. 14
d. 17
Answer: d. They were: Jeb Bush; Ben Carson; Chris Christie; Ted Cruz; Carly Fiorina; Jim Gilmore; Lindsey Graham; Mike Huckabee; Bobby Jindal; John Kasich; George Pataki; Rand Paul; Rick Perry; Marco Rubio; Rick Santorum; Donald Trump; and Scott Walker.
12 When the Republican primaries officially started in early 2016, which of the following people were not running against Mr. Trump?
a. Marco Rubio
b. John Kasich
c. Mike Huckabee
d. Rick Perry
Answer: d. Mr. Perry withdrew his candidacy before the primaries and backed Mr. Cruz, then later Mr. Trump. He was the first major candidate of the 2016 campaign to drop out.
13 During the campaign, Ms. Clinton was the subject of an investigation for her use of a private e-mail server while she was Secretary of State. What government agency was conducting the investigation?
a. CIA
b. NSA
c. FBI
d. Secret Service
Answer: c. FBI director James Comey concluded in July that no charges should be laid against Ms. Clinton.
14 In March, a little bird made a big impression on social media when he landed on the podium of Democratic presidential hopeful Bernie Sanders at a rally in Portland. What kind of bird was “Birdie Sanders”?
a. Finch
b. Sparrow
c. Dove
d. Starling
Answer: a. The Audubon Society identified it as a female house finch, though at the moment, Mr. Sanders suggested it was a dove asking for world peace.
15 What pejorative nickname was commonly used to describe Mr. Sanders’s hard-core supporters?
a. Berninators
b. Bernie Nation
c. Bernie Bros
d. Mister Berns
16 Which Georgia rapper became a diehard fan and unofficial adviser to Mr. Sanders?
a. 2 Chainz
b. Killer Mike
c. Bubba Sparxxx
d. Gucci Mane
Answer: b. Killer Mike of rap duo Run the Jewels continued to criticize Ms. Clinton after she won the nomination, and even began selling T-shirts on which he printed some of her leaked e-mail correspondence.
17 Of what state is Ms. Clinton’s husband, Bill, the former governor?
a. Alabama
b. Alaska
c. Arizona
d. Arkansas
Answer: d. The future U.S. president served as governor from 1979 to 1981 and from 1983 to 1992.
18 What is Melania Trump’s maiden name?
a. Knapp
b. Knauss
c. Kaufman
d. Krieghoff
Answer: b. She married Mr. Trump in 2005 and became a U.S. citizen a year later.
19 One of Mr. Trump’s main rivals for the Republican nomination, Ted Cruz, was born in Alberta. What city is he from?
a. Edmonton
b. Calgary
c. Stettler
d. Red Deer
Answer: b. His family left Alberta when he was four years old and moved to Texas, where he would later be elected a senator.
20 One of Ms. Clinton’s senior advisers is Jennifer Granholm, a Canadian-born politician who used to be governor of an American state. Which one?
a. Delaware
b. Massachusetts
c. Minnesota
d. Michigan
Answer: d. She served two terms as Michigan governor, from 2003 to 2011.
21 In what cities were July’s Democratic and Republican national conventions held, respectively?
a. Cleveland and Philadelphia
b. Cleveland and Chicago
c. Philadelphia and St. Louis
d. Philadelphia and Cleveland
Answer: d. If you answered a) instead, you missed the important word “respectively” in the question.
22 Mr. Trump’s wife, Melania, came under fire for appearing to lift from someone else’s speech for her address to the Republican National Convention. Whose speech was it?
a. Joe Biden
b. Barack Obama
c. Michelle Obama
d. Lena Dunham
Answer: c. The speech bore several close similarities to a 2008 speech by Ms. Obama.
23 At the Republican National Convention, Mr. Cruz, who came in second behind Mr. Trump for the nomination, got booed by the audience. Why?
a. He said he wouldn’t vote for Mr. Trump
b. He didn’t say he would vote for Mr. Trump
c. He didn’t say whether he would vote at all
d. He said he would vote, but said he wasn’t sure for who
Answer: b. The closest he got to endorsing Mr. Trump was “I want to see the principles that our party believes in prevail in November,” which critics considered an unprecedented non-endorsement.
24 How long before the July 25 Democratic National Convention did Mr. Sanders bow out of the race and endorse Ms. Clinton?
a. Three months
b. Two weeks
c. Five days
d. He did it at the convention
Answer: b. “Secretary Clinton has won the Democratic nomination and I congratulate her for that,” Mr. Sanders said at a joint rally in New Hampshire on July 12.
25 The Democratic convention featured an impassioned speech against Mr. Trump by the father of a fallen Muslim soldier. What was the father’s name?
a. Ghazala Khan
b. Humayun Khan
c. Khizr Khan
d. Shaharyar Khan
Answer: c. Humayun is the fallen soldier’s name; Shaharyar is his brother; Ghazala is his mother. Here are some of the highlights from Khizr Khan’s speech.
26 When Ms. Clinton accepted the nomination at the Democratic convention, who introduced her before her speech?
a. Bill Clinton
b. Barack Obama
c. Chelsea Clinton
d. Joe Biden
27 Revelations that the Democratic National Committee was hacked cast a pall on the party’s convention. What foreign power was blamed for the hack?
a. Iran
b. China
c. North Korea
d. Russia
Answer: d. Moscow denied involvement.
28 Asked about the DNC hack on July 27, how did Mr. Trump respond?
a. He suggested the hackers should uncover Ms. Clinton’s “30,000 e-mails that are missing”
b. He suggested terrorists were behind the intrusion
c. He suggested that the hackers “not get any ideas” about targeting Republican Party computers
d. Both a) and c)
Answer: a. He came under heated criticism for appearing to endorse cyberespionage, though he later said he was joking.
29 Who did Ms. Clinton and Mr. Trump pick as their running mates, respectively?
a. Mike Pence and Tim Kaine
b. Tim Pence and Mike Kaine
c. Tim Kaine and Mike Pence
d. Mike Kence and Tim Paine
Answer: c. If you answered a) instead, you missed the important word “respectively” in the question.
30 Mr. Trump postponed the event announcing his running mate, instead making the announcement on Twitter. What reason did he give for the cancellation?
a. To show respect after a knife rampage at a mall in St. Cloud, Minn.
b. To show respect after a terrorist attack in Nice, France
c. To show respect after a deadly gun attack on a mall in Munich
d. None of the above
Answer: b. The Nice attack killed 86 people during Bastille Day celebrations.
31 At a North Carolina rally on Aug. 9, Mr. Trump suggested that “[blank] Amendment people” might have a way to prevent Ms. Clinton from appointing judges. Fill in the blank.
a. Second
b. Fifth
c. 13th
d. 19th
Answer: a. The Second Amendment is the part of the U.S. Constitution guaranteeing the right to “keep and bear arms,” and critics interpreted Mr. Trump’s remarks to be support, serious or otherwise, for armed violence against Ms. Clinton or the government.
32 A man was arrested on Aug. 10 for trying to scale one of Mr. Trump’s buildings with suction cups. Which building was it?
a. Trump International Beach Resort in Miami
b. Trump Tower in New York
c. Trump International Hotel in Toronto
d. Trump International Hotel in Las Vegas
Answer: b. The man, identified as Stephen Rogata of Great Falls, Va., got as high as the 21st floor before New York police apprehended him.
33 Mr. Trump’s campaign chairman, Paul Manafort, resigned on Aug. 19 amid allegations that he had waged a covert lobbying campaign for a political party in a foreign country. Which country?
a. Poland
b. Belarus
c. Russia
d. Ukraine
Answer: d. The campaign was allegedly aimed at swaying U.S. public opinion in favour of the pro-Russian government of then-president Viktor Yanukovych.
34 On Aug. 24, a British politician who played a key role in the U.K.’s Brexit referendum addressed a Trump rally and criticized Ms. Clinton. Who was it?
a. Boris Johnson
b. Nigel Farage
c. Michael Gove
d. Liam Fox
Answer: b. Though Mr. Farage declined to actually endorse Mr. Trump, he did say “I wouldn’t vote for Hillary Clinton if you paid me.”
35 At a gala on Sept. 9, Ms. Clinton said a portion of Mr. Trump’s supporters could fit in a “basket of deplorables.” How many of Mr. Trump’s supporters did she say were in the basket?
a. A quarter
b. Half
c. Three-quarters
d. All
Answer: b. “I regret saying ‘half,’” Ms. Clinton said the next day amid criticism from the Trump campaign.
36 At a New York ceremony marking the anniversary of the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks, Ms. Clinton had to bow out due to an illness and was seen stumbling in public. What illness was it?
a. food poisoning
b. flu
c. strep throat
d. pneumonia
Answer: d. Her doctor advised her to rest and she took a few days off from campaigning.
37 Which of the following is not a real person’s name?
a. Anthony Weiner
b. Bill Boner
c. Kit Fisto
d. Reince Priebus
Answer: c. Kit Fisto is a fictional person, a Jedi Master from the Star Wars prequel films and related Clone Wars animated series. Anthony Weiner and Bill Boner are former congressmen (from New York and Tennessee, respectively) and Reince Priebus is chairman of the Republican National Committee.
38 Gary Johnson, the Libertarian presidential nominee, got stumped in a Sept. 8 interview with MSNBC in which he asked: “What is Aleppo?” What is Aleppo?
a. The Syrian president’s last name
b. A rebel faction in Syria
c. A city in Syria
d. The codename for U.S.-led coalition air strikes in Syria
Answer: c. The city is the major theatre of conflict between President Bashar al-Assad’s regime and rebel forces, and the site of a months-long siege and humanitarian crisis.
39 Mr. Trump’s son, Donald Trump Jr., backed his father’s position on Syrian refugees on Sept. 19 by comparing them to a bowl of candies with some poisoned ones mixed in. Which candy?
a. Smarties
b. Skittles
c. Jelly beans
d. Chocolate-covered almonds
40 Which of these states did not play host to a presidential debate this year?
a. Missouri
b. Nevada
c. New York
d. Virginia
Answer: d. Virginia is where the vice-presidential debate between Mike Pence and Tim Kaine took place.
41 True or false: Mr. Trump and his running mate agree on whether climate change is caused by human activity.
Answer: b. On Sept. 27, only about an hour after Mr. Trump’s campaign manager said he didn’t believe climate change was man-made, Mr. Pence said “there’s no question” that it is.
42 Finish this sentence from Mr. Trump at the first presidential debate on Sept. 26: “I have a better [blank] than she does.”
a. Track record
b. Personality
c. Temperament
d. Spouse
Answer: c. Ms. Clinton responded by saying Mr. Trump did not have “the temperament to be president of the United States.”
43 At the first debate, Ms. Clinton and Mr. Trump also sparred over Mr. Trump’s disparaging remarks about Alicia Machado, a former Miss Universe who Mr. Trump openly shamed about her weight. What country did Ms. Machado represent at the beauty pageant?
a. Colombia
b. Ecuador
c. Mexico
d. Venezuela
Answer: d. Ms. Machado is now a U.S. citizen.
44 On Sept. 27, the Anti-Defamation League added a cartoon character used in memes by anti-Semites and white supremacists – as well as many of Mr. Trump’s “alt-right” supporters – to its list of hate symbols. What is the character called?
a. Pepper the Dog
b. Pepe the Frog
c. Polo the Frog
d. Pippo the Log
Answer: b. The ADL noted that, while the cartoon frog didn’t originally have anti-Semitic connotations, racists had “twisted it for their own purposes.”
45 Since October, at least a dozen women have come forward to accuse Mr. Trump of sexual assault after a 2005 video surfaced in which he described being able to “do anything” to women. With whom was he having that conversation in 2005?
a. Billy Bush
b. Rush Limbaugh
c. Howard Stern
d. Sean Hannity
Answer: a. Mr. Trump also described his failed sexual advances to Mr. Bush’s co-host at the time, Nancy O’Dell.
46 Asked about the 2005 video at the second presidential debate on Oct. 9, Mr. Trump characterized his remarks as:
a. “Locker-room talk”
b. “Man’s talk”
c. “Just talk”
d. “Boys being boys”
Answer: a. He also accused the Clinton campaign of being behind the allegations.
47 At the final presidential debate on Oct. 19, what insult did Mr. Trump use against Ms. Clinton when she suggested raising taxes on the wealthy?
a. “Bad woman”
b. “Naughty woman”
c. “Evil woman”
d. “Nasty woman”
48 On Oct. 28, FBI director James Comey wrote a letter to Congress saying more e-mails had been uncovered on a laptop that could be connected to the Clinton investigation. To whom did the laptop reportedly belong?
a. Hillary Clinton
b. Anthony Weiner
c. Tim Kaine
d. Debbie Wasserman Schultz
Answer: b. Mr. Weiner is the estranged husband of Ms. Clinton’s top aide, Huma Abedin.
49 As of Nov. 4, which of these U.S. celebrities have said they would move to Canada if Mr. Trump was elected president?
a. Hulk Hogan
b. Bryan Cranston
c. Whoopi Goldberg
d. All of the above
50 The U.S. election and the shift in Daylight Savings Time are only two days apart. How does the time change?
a. Clocks go an hour back before the election
b.Clocks go an hour forward before the election
c. Clocks go an hour back after the election
d. Clocks go an hour forward after the election
Answer: a. The time shifts back an hour on Sunday, Nov. 6. Consider this a helpful reminder to change your clocks! The downside is that an already long U.S. campaign gets an extra hour.
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