The debate
Attacks fly in heated first US presidential debate as Hillary Clinton's jabs put Donald Trump on defensive
Donald Trump aggressively blamed the nation's chronic problems on Hillary Clinton yet found himself mostly on the defensive in their first debate in New York as she accused him of racist behaviour, hiding potential conflicts of interest and “stiffing” those who helped build his business empire.
After circling each other for months, Clinton and Trump finally took the stage together for the first time, and each tried in a series of combative, acrimonious exchanges to discredit the other. A CNN snap poll said Clinton was the winner by 62 per cent to 27 per cent. In 2012 Mitt Romney won the first debate against Barack Obama in a snap poll by a similar margin. A survey by Public Policy Polling gave the debate to Clinton by 51 per cent to 40 per cent.
Trump, the Republican nominee, spent nearly the entire event explaining himself — over his temperament, treatment of women and minorities, business practices and readiness to be commander in chief, as well as over his long perpetuation of a falsehood about Barack Obama's birthplace to delegitimise his presidency.
The 95-minute debate at Hofstra University pitted two historically unpopular and polarising nominees against each other. The television networks were preparing for as many as 100 million people to watch.
The clash came at a critical juncture in the campaign. With six weeks until Election Day, and with voters in some states already starting to cast ballots, polls show Clinton's northern summer lead has all but evaporated. Trump is effectively tied in many of the battleground states where Clinton had enjoyed comfortable leads.
Clinton poured forth with policy details and practiced catch phrases — “Trumped-up trickle down” to describe his tax plan, for instance — and tried to sow doubts about the seriousness of Trump's proposals. She seized on his comments about Russian President Vladimir Putin to suggest that Trump does not understand the global threats the country faces.
Where Clinton was measured in her attacks, Trump was a feisty and sometimes undisciplined aggressor. He regularly interrupted Clinton, as well as the moderator, NBC anchor Lester Holt, and raised his voice. At times, Trump delivered rambling, heated and defensive answers.
Trump sought to blame Clinton for the growth of Isis (Islamic State), snapping, “You were Secretary of State when it was a little infant”.
Clinton mocked Trump's discussion of national security, suggesting he is uninformed and even unstable. “Whoo,” she said with a laugh, when Trump finished one oration about Nato
She doesn't have thelook... She doesn't have the stamina. Donald Trump As soon as he travels to 112 countries he can talk to me about stamina Hillary Clinton
and Isis. Earlier, Trump grew visibly frustrated by Clinton's critique of his economic plan and declared: “Typical politician. All talk. No action. Sounds good. Doesn't work. Never gonna happen. Our country is suffering because people like Secretary Clinton have made such bad decisions in terms of our jobs, in terms of what's going on.”
Trump, whose pugilistic aggression made him a dominant force in the Republican primary debates, began the first general-election debate with an uncharacteristically respectful tone.
He tried to portray Clinton as a relic of Washington and protector of the status quo. In one of his few dominant moments, he challenged Clinton on trade policy, saying the North American Free Trade Agreement and other trade pacts have contributed to the hollowing-out of America's middle class.
Trump said: “You've been doing this for 30 years. Why are you just thinking about these solutions right now?”
Near the end of the debate, Trump repeated his claim that Clinton lacks what he sees as “the presidential look”.
“She doesn't have the look. ... She doesn't have the stamina,” Trump said.
“As soon as he travels to 112 countries he can talk to me about stamina,” Clinton laughed. That line drew loud applause in the hall.
Clinton speculated that Trump was “hiding” his tax returns because they would show he is not as rich as he says he is, or is not as charitable as he claims, or has debts to major banks and foreign entities, or pays nothing in taxes at all. At that last suggestion, Trump scoffed, “That makes me smart.”
Trump countered by offering to release his taxes if Clinton agreed to release her missing 33,000 emails.
Clinton said, “I made a mistake using a private email.”
“That's for sure,” Trump interjected.
“I don't make any excuses,” she continued.
With her concise answer, Clinton avoided the lawyerly details that have usually accompanied her discussion of the email issue, which her campaign staff has warned her sounds to voters like she is splitting hairs.
From the beginning, Clinton's strategy seemed in part to be to goad Trump to respond intemperately. Early on, she reminded the audience that “Donald was very fortunate,” to the tune of what she said was a US$14 million loan from Trump's father. Her own father was a small businessman, Clinton added.
Trump, who is famously sensitive to suggestions that he owes his success to anyone else, took the bait. He used part of his next chance to speak to say he had received only a “small loan”. The exchange may seem petty, but it invokes themes of the election, including the economic health of the middle class and which candidate is on the side of the little guy.
This was the first of four debates.