Trump on back foot as Clinton comes out firing

DONALD Trump has sought to pin America’s economic and national security problems on Hillary Clinton after finding himself on the defensive for much of the first US presidential debate.

The Republican nominee belittled the former US senator and secretary of state as a “typical politician” incapable of delivering the change many Americans crave.

Mr Trump also accused moderator Lester Holt of a leftleaning performance and going harder on him than Mrs Clinton – even floating the theory that organisers intentionally gave him a faulty microphone to set him up.

Democratic nominee Mrs Clinton was thoroughly prepared in the debate – not only with detailed answers about her own policy proposals, but also sharp criticism of Mr Trump’s business record, his past statements about women and his false assertions that president Barack Obama may not have been born in the United States.

She said his charges about Mr Obama were part of Mr Trump’s pattern of “racist behaviour.”

The Democrat also blasted Mr Trump for his refusal to release his tax returns, breaking with decades of presidential campaign tradition.

She stated: “There’s something he’s hiding.”