Clinton on top in Trump TV face-off
HILLARY Clinton claimed first blood in a series of three US presidential TV debates with Donald Trump yesterday.
A poll by CNN found that 62 per cent of voters who watched believed Mrs Clinton had won compared with 27 per cent for Mr Trump as did 18 out of 20 people in a focus group.
In fireworks from the off, Republican candidate Mr Trump hammered his Democratic rival on trade.
He said her 40 years in public life showed that she was ineffective and got the biggest cheer of the night by attacking her use of a private email server which had been a “disgrace”.
Mrs Clinton baited Mr Trump with personal digs which left him looking angry and frustrated. She called him a sexist and said that he had a “long record of engaging in racist behaviour”.
Mrs Clinton, 68, the former secretary of state and first lady, had prepared relentlessly for months. Mr Trump, 70, a billionaire ex-host of The Apprentice with no formal political experience, had not even practised in a mock debate.
Mr Trump promised tax cuts and vowed to stop jobs being “stolen” by China and Mexico.
But the audience laughed when he said he had a “winning temperament” and Mrs Clinton said, sarcastically: “Whoo! OK.” After the 90-minute battle – watched by a record audience of 100 million viewers – Mr Trump blamed his performance on a microphone fault and biased questioning.
Mrs Clinton said later: “Anybody who complains about the microphone is not having a good night.”
Most US media said that Mr Trump started well but faltered.
The New York Times said that Mrs Clinton went from “uncertain and tentative to firm and, ultimately, scorching”, while Mr Trump was a “hurricane of factual distortion, interruptions and blustery generalities”.
The New York Post, which backs him, splashed: “Don, not out.”