‘Jeopardy!’ Faces Backlash As Fans Bash “Tricky” Question About Presidential Elections: “Bad, Hazy Wording”

The polls are in — and Jeopardy! fans have seemingly voted that Tuesday night’s (Feb. 20) Final Jeopardy question was quite the toughie.

According to TV Insider, Ken Jennings revealed the Final Jeopardy category of the night to be “Presidential Elections,” before imparting the following clue to contestants Alex Gordon, Jesse Matheny, and Kat Jepson: “He’s the most recent presidential candidate to have officially declared his opponent in that campaign the victor.”

During the final moments of what served as the ultimate semi-final game, the three contestants were allotted 30 seconds to scrounge up an answer. Jepson, who had $8,400, lost everything by guessing “Who is McCain?,” referring to the late Senator and 2008 Republican presidential candidate John McCain.

Up next was Gordon, who had garnered $10,200 at that point. Unfortunately, Gordon also had no luck, striking out by answering, “Who is Mitt Romney?” He had wagered $8,601, bringing his total earnings down to $1,599.

Matheny, who was in first place with $18,800, bested both Gordon and Matheny by responding, “Who is Gore?”

Jennings explained, “It is, as I think we now know, the sitting vice president who certifies the electoral college count, or at least has so far. And the last sitting veep to lose to his opponent was Al Gore.”

Matheny’s total boosted to $20,401 — making him the “third finalist” in the upcoming Champions Wildcard finals, in which he will be competing against Deb Bilodeau and Mira Hayward.

According to TV Insider, frustrated fans flocked to a Reddit page to discuss the “really tricky” wording of the Final Jeopardy clue. Some interpreted it like Gordon had, such as one viewer who had “gone with Romney” and noted that they “didn’t understand exactly what the FJ was asking for.”

One critic argued that the question consisted of “bad, hazy wording.”

“‘Official’ is too vague a word, imo, but anything that’s less vague makes the question a gimme,” they added.

Many shared similar sentiments, such as one Reddit user who wrote that “this was a trick question relying on a specific meaning of the word ‘officially.'” Another, who claimed that they “work in politics and elections are [their] best trivia category,” admitted that they “couldn’t parse this at all.”

One echoed these feelings on X (the platform formerly known as Twitter), where they declared the clue a “trick question.”

Matheny later reflected on his victory on X, where he revealed this category to be his “#1 subject.” However, he confessed that he “didn’t know it right away” and “had to think about” his answer. While he knew it wasn’t 2020 or 2016, he said that eventually “the connection hit,” but that he still “wasn’t 100% sure.”

Jeopardy! airs on weeknights at 7/6c. Check out their website for your local listings.