Politics October 10, 2016
Mandatory Credit: Photo by Julio Cortez/AP/REX/Shutterstock (6118685f)Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump took the stage for the second presidential debate on Sunday, October 9.
Neither Clinton nor Trump offered a handshake to begin the debate, shocking many news outlets, including the New York Times. (They did, however, end the event with a handshake before leaving the stage.)
This debate differed from the first with a town-hall format, incorporating audience and online questions. Moderators Martha Raddatz and Anderson Cooper followed up on these questions and redirected candidates when they steered away from the prompt at hand.
The night started off with addressing Donald Trump’s most recent scandal resulting from a trending video leaked online Friday, October 7. This tape features recorded audio of Trump and entertainer Billy Bush talking about women in a derogatory manner. Since the video’s leak, NBC announced their suspension of Bush as a host of the “Today Show,” according to the New York Times.
Trump’s vulgar commends have sparked worldwide controversy and caused many of his supporters to retract their endorsements of the Republican candidate. Before the debate began, NBC News commentator Hallie Jackson referred to the incident as “the worst 72 hours of Donald Trump’s campaign.” Additionally, during the debate Raddatz said, “In just forty eight hours, it’s become the single most talked-about story of the entire 2016 election on Facebook with millions and millions of people discussing it on the social network.”
When asked about the subject, Trump apologized for his embarrassing behavior but referred to the banter as “locker room talk.” He seemed to deflect the scandal by talking about ISIS and delving into Clinton’s past, including her husband Bill Clinton’s sexual indiscretions, her response to Bill’s controversy and her own personal email scandal.
Anderson redirected Trump back toward the question about the lewd video, to which the Republican candidate responded, “I have great respect for women. Nobody has more respect for women than I do.”
In her two minute response, Clinton replied, “With prior Republican nominees for President, I disagreed with them on politics, policies, principles … but I never questioned their fitness to serve. Donald Trump is different.”
Donald Trump then claimed that Clinton’s 30 years in the political world has been all talk and no action, stating “It’s just words, folks. It’s just words. […] She wants [the Latino, Hispanic and African-Ameircan] vote and she does nothing and then she comes back four years later.”
Aside from Trump and Clinton’s scandals, diverse debate topics ranged from the Affordable Care Act, Islamophobia, changes in tax provisions, the war in Syria, Clinton’s comment that Trump supporters are “deplorables,” the recent open position of a Supreme Court justice and environmentally conscious energy policies that minimizes job loss.
More surprising questions included if the candidates were “modeling positive and appropriate behaviors for today’s youth” (via Patrice Brock) or whether either would “name one positive thing that you respect in one another” (via Carl Becker). To the latter question, Clinton shared her admiration for the Republican candidate’s able and devoted children while Trump shared he respected his opponent’s will to fight hard and never quit.
The 90-minute debate left many viewers feeling upset, hopeless or ashamed – despite audience member Ken Bone offering comic relief to a tension-filled night – as the election draws closer to Tuesday, November 8.
If you missed the trending political debate, you can watch the full coverage online, courtesy of NBC News.
