geeky
The debate occurred in the aftermath of one of the most controversial incidents of the campaign. On Friday, October 7, the Washington Post released a video showing a 2005 conversation between Donald Trump and radio host Billy Bush (nephew of former President George H. W. Bush) in which Trump made some very lewd comments about women. The end of the conversation, in which Trump talked about an attractive woman who was present, went as follows:
TRUMP: "Yeah that's her in the gold. I better use some Tic Tacs just in case I start kissing her. You know, I'm automatically attracted to beautiful -- I just start kissing them. It's like a magnet. Just kiss. I don't even wait. And when you're a star they let you do it. You can do anything."
BUSH: "Whatever you want."
TRUMP: "Grab them by the pussy. You can do anything."
When the second debate began last night, the candidates took the stage without shaking hands, though their spouses did. The debate began with explosive attacks as Trump was asked about the remarks. He called it "locker room talk" and said that he was not proud of his comments, but that he had apologized for the remarks, before comparing what he had done to what Bill Clinton had done and how Hillary Clinton had enabled his actions by attacking his accusers.Trump said that his lewd remarks did not compare to Bill Clinton’s history with women. “If you look at Bill Clinton, far worse,” Trump said. Trump disputed that the recording amounted to bragging about sexual assault. He said "I have great respect for women, nobody has more respect for women than I do."
Hillary Clinton said that while she disagreed with past Republican nominees, "I never questioned their fitness to serve. Donald Trump is different,” adding that, despite Mr. Trump’s insistence that the recording did not reflect his character, “It’s clear to anyone who heard it that it represents exactly who he is.”
Trump was also attacked about his finances. He acknowledged that he had avoided paying federal income taxes for years, but said that he was proposing changes to income tax laws that would be personally disadvantageous to him. He criticized Clinton for doing nothing during her time in public service to change income tax laws, accusing her of doing so in order to help her donors.
Trump made several harsh attacks on Clinton, vowing that if he was elected president, he would appoint a special prosecutor to investigate her and accusing her of carrying “hate in her heart.” Trump said that if he wins the election, “I am going to instruct my attorney general to get a special prosecutor to look into your situation,” citing her use of a private email server as secretary of state. Mrs. Clinton pointedly said she could not spend all of her time fact-checking Mr. Trump, advising viewers to go to her website to see his falsehoods. She said it was a good thing that Mr. Trump was not in charge of the laws in the country. Trump quickly retorted: “Because you’d be in jail.”
Clinton reiterated several times that she was an experienced public servant and she called Trump "unfit to be president." She said that Trump “owes our country an apology.”
At the end of the debate, an audience member asked the candidates to name one positive quality about their opponent. Clinton did not directly compliment Trump, but said “I respect his children,” adding “his children are incredibly able and devoted and I think that says a lot about Donald. I don’t agree with nearly anything else he says or does, but I do respect that.” Trump was more complimentary to his opponent, expressing gratitude for the compliment about his children and adding, “I will say this about Hillary: She doesn’t quit. She doesn’t give up. I respect that.” The debate ended, and the pair shook hands.
Trump was critical of the moderators, who he perceived as being unfair to him. Trump asked moderator Anderson Cooper why he had not spent more time discussing Mrs. Clinton’s private email server.“Nice, one on three,” he said, suggesting the moderators were teaming up on him. On another occasion, when Trump criticized Clinton's strategy of announcing where ISIS would be attacked in advance of such attacks, moderator Martha Raddatz, rather than asking a question, seemed to come to Clinton's defense by making an argument as to why this might be a good strategy.
When the candidates were asked about how to stop Islamophobia, Trump said, “You’re right about Islamophobia and that’s a shame” but then went on to attack what he called “radical Islamic terrorists.” He referred to the mass shooting in Orlando and the attacks on the World Trade Center. Clinton said “We are not at war with Islam,” adding “it plays into the hands of the terrorists to act as though we are.”
Clinton was asked about a remark, leaked from a private speech, in which she seemed to stress the importance of keeping both a public and a private position on given issues as a political figure. She said she was following the example of Abraham Lincoln as he sought to convince lawmakers to ally with him. Trump was not buying this explanation, stating “Now she’s blaming the lie on the late, great Abraham Lincoln. Honest Abe never lied.”
Clinton kept trying to link Trump with Russian hackers seeking to influence the election with strategic leaks. She said, “Believe me, they’re not doing it to get me elected,”
The candidates were asked about the Affordable Care Act. Trump called the program “a disaster. You know it, we all know it.” Clinton was asked about recent remarks from her husband, in which he criticized the health care plan. She said “If we were to start all over again, we might come up with a different system,” but she then contract this with the consequences that would occur if the Affordable Care Act was repealed, as Trump has promised to do.
The candidates were asked about the humanitarian crisis in Syria. Clinton blamed Russia for much of the problem and once again accused Trump of being pro-Russia. Trump said that Clinton “talks tough against Russia, but our nuclear program has fallen way behind.” When Martha Raddatz, asked about remarks of Trump’s running mate, Mike Pence, on Syria, Mr. Trump said, “He and I haven’t spoken and I disagree.”
Anderson Cooper asked Trump if he had the discipline to lead, citing a recent tweet from Trump in which he advised followers to “check out” a sex tape featuring a former pageant winner who was referred to by Hillary Clinton in the previous debate. Trump denied that he had mentioned a sex tape. He also defended his tweets, saying “Tweeting happens to be a modern-day form of communication. I’m not un-proud of it.”
The candidates were about the kind of Supreme Court appointments they would make. Clinton said she wanted “a Supreme Court that will stick with Roe v. Wade and a women’s right to choose” while Trump said he hoped to find judges “very much in the mold of Justice Scalia”
After the debate, a CNN poll (of which more respondents identified as Democrats) was taken on the subject of who won the debate. 57% of respondents said Clinton 57% and 37% said Trump. But 63% said Trump did better than they expected he would. CNN said it polled viewers who actually watched the debates, as opposed to a national survey of all voters.
