Despite Clinton’s composure, Trump’s chaotic performance took centre stage.
By Julia Tramontin
“She doesn’t have the look. She doesn’t have the stamina,” Donald Trump scoffed into the microphone in response to questioning about why he said Hillary Clinton doesn’t have the “presidential look.” Clinton continued to laugh to herself, looking unfazed.
This is just one example of Trump’s aggressive attacks on Clinton’s character and political record, along with countless interruptions and defensive remarks that he relied on to get through the first presidential debate. On the other hand, Clinton used her preparation to target Trump in a series of heated exchanges between the two, leaving little room for adequately addressing voter issues.
Moderated by Lester Holt from NBC News, Clinton and Trump faced off in front of an audience of nearly 100 million viewers on Sept. 26 to debate topics ranging from job growth and race to cybersecurity.
From the outset, Clinton and Trump differed in their approach to voters. Clinton attempted to appeal to middle-class voters, describing her own upbringing coming from two working parents and emphasizing Trump’s wealthy and unrelatable childhood.
Clinton recalled the 2008 recession, adding that Trump took advantage by purchasing more properties during the housing crisis. Trump quipped, “That’s called business.”
Trump played up his business approach throughout the 90-minute debate when he wasn’t criticizing Clinton, talking about the worth of his businesses and his plans to cut taxes for all businesses.
Trump mostly used his airtime to bash Clinton’s experience as Secretary of State, criticizing NAFTA and her inaction on ISIS. Clinton, however, also took shots at her opponent, saying he “stiffed” his workers and calling his behaviour “racist.”
“That makes me smart,” he said when Clinton brought up how he hasn’t paid any federal income tax. He then suggested that if he releases his tax returns, Clinton should release the thousands of emails on her private email account sent during her time as Secretary of State, which the FBI previously investigated.
Holt lacked assertiveness through most of the debate, often fading into the background as Trump and Clinton hurled comments at each other and failed to keep the debaters on track.
Throughout the debate, Trump systematically defended and denied previous problematic comments, from racist remarks to misogynistic behaviour, frequently contradicting himself.
Despite Holt reiterating multiple times that stop-and-frisk, the act of police officers being allowed to stop and interrogate suspects, was unconstitutional for racially profiling predominantly Black and Hispanic men, Trump said that stop-and-frisk “worked very well.”
Clinton was clearly ready for the debate, even saying at one point, “I think Donald just criticized me for preparing for this debate. And yes, I did.” Aside from attacking Clinton, Trump’s answers often strayed from the original question as he spewed random pieces of information.
When questioned about the US and cybersecurity, Trump mentioned his youngest son, saying, “He is so good with these computers, it’s unbelievable.”
Although Clinton attempted to take control of the debate, Trump’s chaotic performance is what viewers will remember. So, who really won this round? Only time will tell as the next debate approaches on Oct. 9 and polls continue to tighten.