The second presidential debate was held at Washington University in St. Louis. Moderators Martha Raddatz of ABC News and Anderson Cooper on CNN, had their hands full throughout the debate, and at times had to scream over the debaters to direct the conversation.
The debate was conducted in town hall format, which allowed citizens to directly ask each of the candidates questions. However, it appeared as though the questions were lost in favor of the candidates’ attacks on each other’s campaigns, and in some cases, personal attacks. In fact, the debate started with neither candidate shaking the other’s hand. At one point, Trump even referred to Clinton as “the devil.”
It seemed as though the moderators had to remind the GOP Presidential candidate, Donald Trump, of the rules of debating, as they asked him multiple times to stop interrupting because “she didn’t talk while you talked.”
The night got off to a boisterous start when the candidates were asked a seemingly simple question about whether or not the candidates model “appropriate and positive behavior for today’s youth.”
The Democratic Presidential nominee, Hillary Clinton, mentioned that it was “very important for us to make clear to our children that our country is great because we are good,” and spoke of respecting “one another,” lifting “each other up,” and “looking for ways to celebrate our diversity, citing a need to “overcome the divisiveness that sometimes sets Americans against one another.” She concluded her remarks by affirming that she wants to “be the president for every American.”
Mr. Trump went on a semi-rant to begin the evening, suggesting that the deals in America are why we are “doing so badly.” “When I watch the deals being made, when I watch what’s happening with some horrible things like Obamacare, when I look at the Iran deal and how bad a deal it is for us…when I look at all of the things that I see and all of the potential that our country has, whether it is in business and trade where we are doing so badly” – said Mr. Trump. He proceeded to refer to strengthening the border, brining back “law and order,” and that he wanted to do things “that haven’t been done including fixing and making our inner cities better for African American citizens that are so great and the Latinos, Hispanics.”
From there, the debate switched gears and put focus on this weekend’s video revelation that showed Mr. Trump speaking in a video from 2005 in which he made reference to trying to seduce a married woman and grabbing women by their genitalia.
Moderator Anderson Cooper asked Mr. Trump if he knew that when he “described kissing women without their consent, grabbing their genitals,” he was describing sexual assault.
Mr. Trump answered by suggesting that what he said “was locker room talk” and that he wasn’t proud of it. He issued an apology to his family and “to the American people.” He reiterated that it was “locker room talk” before then proceeding to suggest that we live in “a world where you have ISIS chopping off heads and frankly, drowning people in steel cages, where you have wars and, and horrible, horrible sights all over,” likening the world to “medieval times.” He continued to berate ISIS before returning to the original question and for a third time, suggesting it was “locker room talk and it’s one of those things.”
After Moderator Cooper pressed twice more to get an answer on whether or not Mr. Trump groped and grabbed married women against their will, Mr. Trump denied the claims.
Mrs. Clinton took the opportunity to suggest that the Donald Trump revealed in the video was the Donald Trump that the public has always known him to be. She mentioned that although prior republicans disagreed with her on the facts, she never “questioned their fitness to serve,” and stating that Mr. Trump “was not fit to be president and commander in chief.” She alluded to the droves of Republican candidates and independent voters who have left support for the campaign this year and in recent days, and said that we’ve seen this Donald Trump “throughout the campaign.” “We’ve seen him insult women. We’ve seen him rate women on their appearance, ranking them from one to ten. We’ve seen him embarrass women.”
Clinton went on to suggest that women weren’t the only disenfranchised groups on account of Trump’s behavior and statements, saying that he has targeted “immigrants, African Americans, Latinos, people with disabilities, POWs, Muslims, and so many others.”
She finished her comments by assuring “every boy and girl” and “the entire world” that America “already is great because we are good” and we respect diversity and one another.
After being pressed again by Moderator Raddatz to answer the original question about his character, Trump gave an answer in which he once again referred to “locker room talk,” and then parlayed into a lengthy response about former President Bill Clinton’s past indiscretions. He also made mention of a young woman who was raped and whose attacker was defended in criminal court by Hillary Clinton, before suggesting that she should be “ashamed of herself.” He said that the fact that she brought up words that were “said 11 years ago” was “disgraceful,” despite bringing up a criminal court case she defended 30 years ago.
In response, Clinton used a phrase that Michele Obama made famous earlier this year during the Democratic National Convention: “When they go low, you go high.” She pointed to Trump’s general dismissal of most questions asked of him, saying that his entire campaign has been about choices he’s made to not address questions, to pivot on his talking points, to avoid speaking of policy and substantive issues, and to avoid apologizing for any of the statements or actions.
The candidates moved on to a discussion of the closed case conducted by the FBI regarding Clinton’s email server. After general statements from both candidates, the debate devolved into a screaming contest, with Trump interrupting Clinton and the moderators to belabor his talking points. He interrupted so much, Moderator Cooper was forced to remind Trump to “allow her to respond” because “she didn’t talk while you talked.” Trump alluded to the moderators being in favor of Clinton, saying it was “one on three.”
After each candidate discussed what they would do with reference to the Affordable Care Act (Trump mentioned the same “repeal and replace” mantra that many Republicans have touted, while Clinton addressed the skyrocketing premiums and diminishing coverage), they were asked a question by a Muslim audience member:
“There are 3.3 Muslims in the United States and I’m one of them. You’ve mentioned working with Muslim nations, but with islamophobia on the rise, how will you help people like me deal with the consequences of being a threat to the country after the election is over?”
Mr. Trump alluded that the questioner was “right about Islamophobia and that’s a shame,” and then proceeded to suggest that Muslims are responsible to “come in and report when they see something going on,” and that instances in San Bernandino, Orlando, and the World Trade Centers were examples of when this policy wasn’t put into effect, ignoring the fact that the Orlando shooter’s motives have been largely revealed as homophobic.
The debate transitioned into a discussion on Syria, asking both candidates what they would do “about Syria and the humanitarian crisis in Aleppo,” and comparing the United States’ delayed response in the country to the Holocaust.
Mrs. Clinton suggested that the key to containing the Syrian situation was to gain “some leverage with the Russians,” suggesting that Russia wasn’t “going to come to the negotiating table for a diplomatic resolution unless there is some leverage over them.” She condemned Russian aggression and suggested that it was diminishing any attempts from all “partners and allies on the ground.”
When the question was turned to Mr. Trump, he avoided mentioning Russia in his response, other than to praise the Assad regime and Russia for “killing ISIS.” Moderator Raddatz then asked if Mr. Trump agreed with his running mate’s statement that “provocations by Russia need to be met with American strength,” and that if Russia continued “to be involved with airstrikes along with the Syrian government forces of Assad, the United States of America should be prepared to use military force to strike the military targets of the Assad regime.” Mr. Trump tersely responded:
“He and I haven’t spoken and I disagree.”
When the moderator asked if he “disagreed with his running mate,” Trump went on to say that Syria was already Russia.
The debate ended with questions about how the candidates would unite the country, what they would look for when choosing a Supreme Court Justice, their energy policy and how they would save jobs for the fossil fuel industry. The final question of the evening was whether or not each candidate could name “one positive thing that” they respect in one another.
Mrs. Clinton spoke of Trump’s children: “His children are incredibly able and devoted, and I think that says a lot about Donald.”
While Mr. Trump pointed to Mrs. Clinton’s determination: “I will say this about Hillary. She doesn’t quit. She doesn’t give up. I respect that. I tell it like it is. She’s a fighter. I disagree with much of what she’s fighting for. I do disagree with her judgment in many cases. But she does fight hard, and she doesn’t quit. And she doesn’t give up, and I consider that to be a very good trait.”
With the second debate in the books, there is only one debate remaining before the presidential election next month. Did you watch Sunday’s debate? Who do you think won? Take our poll below:
