October surprise
Noun
Meaning
October surprise (plural October surprises)
(US politics) An occurrence that unexpectedly comes to public attention just prior to a November election, especially a presidential election, and that is likely to affect the outcome.
Examples
“Among themselves,” Devlin Barrett writes in his new book, “October Surprise: How the FBI Tried to Save Itself and Crashed an Election,” “they debated whether the FBI had made Trump the next president of the United States.”
A West Wing Special to Benefit When We All Vote, the show will be filmed in Los Angeles in October – like a Hollywood version of an October surprise, I assume, to benefit Joe Biden’s campaign.
However, in late September the much-discussed October surprise occurred.
This scenario is scarier than any October Surprise or Halloween Horror.
Theodore H. White, The Making of the President, 1968 (1970) However, the Nixon campaign had anticipated a possible " October surprise " to boost Humphrey and thwarted any last-minute chances of a "Halloween Peace."