unforced error

1). in tennis, whenever a player misses an otherwise easy or effortless shot due to their own inattentiveness rather than the opposing player’s skill.

2.) in politics, a polite term for when someone ends up creating their own scandal through poor or tactless decision making.
1.) bobby sands failing to make that save at wimbledon was an unforced error.

2.) donald’s trump’s statement about mexican migrants “bringing in drugs” and being “rapists” during the 2016 campaign was an unforced error that cast a cloud over his entire presidency.
1.) in tennis, a missed shot due not to an opponent’s skill but to the player’s own mistakes and inattentiveness.

2.) in politics, a polite way of saying that someone has screwed up royally, creating a crisis not because of events out of their control but through their own tactless decisions.
1.) bobby sands missing that shot at wimbeldon was an unforced error.

2.) president trump’s declaration during the 2016 election that mexican migrants are “bringing crime” and are “rapists” was an unforced error on his part which later complicated his attempts to strike a deal with democrats on immigration reform.