Trump says he may hit ‘harder’ at next debate
Hillary: Exchange showed differences in temperament
Donald Trump on Tuesday insisted that Hillary Clinton did not get under his skin during their first debate and suggested he may “hit her harder” in their next encounter by raising the subject of former President Bill Clinton’s infidelities.
“I really eased up because I didn’t want to hurt anyone’s feelings,” Trump said on Fox News, saying he would have brought up “the many affairs that Bill Clinton had” but held back because the Clintons’ daughter, Chelsea, was in the audience.
“I didn’t think it was worth the shot,” he said. “I didn’t think it was nice.”
Trump’s provocative post-debate comments,
including new jabs he took at a former Miss Universe about her weight and complaints that his microphone was malfunctioning, kept the focus on the GOP nominee’s defensive performance during Monday’s event at Hofstra University on Long Island.
For her part, Clinton told reporters that she had a “great, great time.”
“The real point is about temperament and fitness and qualification to hold the most important, hardest job in the world, and I think people saw last night some very clear differences between us,” the Democratic nominee said on her campaign plane before flying to North Carolina.
The former secretary of state declined to respond to Trump’s suggestion that he might go after her husband’s personal life.
“He can run his campaign however he chooses,” Clinton said. “I will continue to talk about what I want to do for the American people.”
Before going to her seat, she turned back and fired one last jab. “Anybody who complains about the microphone,” Clinton said with a smile, “is not having a good night.”
Trump maintained that the Democratic nominee did not unnerve him. “No, not at all,” he said on Fox News. “I didn’t see it that way.”
But he allowed that he was irritated “at the end, maybe” when Clinton brought up Trump’s treatment of Alicia Machado, a woman from Venezuela who was crowned the 1996 Miss Universe at age 19.
“She was the worst we ever had,” Trump said on Fox News’ “Fox and Friends,” adding: “She gained a massive amount of weight, and it was a real problem.”
The Clinton campaign moved quickly to capitalize on the issue, releasing a web video featuring Machado, who said Trump called her “Miss Piggy” and “Miss Housekeeping.”
The ad also features footage from the 1990s of Trump saying in an interview that Machado went from 117 or 118 pounds to 160 or 170: “So this is somebody that likes to eat.”
Give and take
Kellyanne Conway, Trump’s campaign manager, said voters will see Trump as a “changemaker,” praising the real estate developer for being “polite and a gentleman.”
Conway told CNN that Trump was prepared to bring up Bill Clinton’s marital indiscretions during the debate, but that he made “a splitsecond spontaneous decision” not to raise the issue. That will earn him points with female voters, she said.
“I think that whole exchange will grow in importance over the next couple of days,” she said. “Women will like that.”
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 summer lead has all but evaporated. Trump is effectively tied in many of the battleground states where Clinton had enjoyed comfortable leads.
For his part, Trump said he was pleased with the points he made on immigration, trade and jobs in the first half hour of the debate. He gave his Democratic rival a “C plus” when asked to grade her performance, but declined to grade himself, saying: “I know I did better than Hillary.”
During the 95-minute debate, Trump unrelentingly blamed the nation’s chronic problems on Clinton as a “typical politician.” Yet he found himself mostly on the ropes as she denounced him for racial insensitivity, hiding potential conflicts of interest and “stiffing” those who helped build his business empire.
Both candidates delivered performances likely to please and energize their core supporters. Clinton eviscerated Trump’s character and record while championing progressive ideals. Trump directly confronted Clinton over her email scandal and general trustworthiness. Less certain was how the debate might shape the perceptions of the slivers of the electorate still up for grabs, especially college-educated white women.
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 Nightly News” anchor Lester Holt, and raised his voice. At times, Trump delivered rambling, heated and defensive answers.
Despite evidence to the contrary, Trump vehemently denied he had supported the Iraq War at the outset, as Clinton had, while Clinton looked on incredulously. Trump sought to blame Clinton for the growth of the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria, 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.
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 ditched his campaign trail nickname of “Crooked Hillary” to call his opponent “Secretary Clinton.”
“Is that OK?” he asked her. Clinton smiled. “Good,” Trump continued. “I want you to be very happy. It’s very important to me.”
But Trump’s demeanor quickly grew more aggressive, even bitter. 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.
“Your husband signed NAFTA, which was one of the worst things that ever happened to the manufacturing industry,” Trump said to Clinton. “You go to New England, you go to Ohio, you go to Pennsylvania — you go anywhere you want, Secretary Clinton, and you will see devastation.”
Trump added: “You’ve been doing this for 30 years. Why are you just thinking about these solutions right now?”
Tax returns, emails
Clinton accused Trump of postponing the release of his tax returns — something every presidential nominee has done for decades — because he has something to hide. Trump has said he is keeping his returns private on the advice of his lawyers because he is under federal audit.
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. “I think it’s disgraceful,” Trump said of her use of a private email server as secretary of state. “And believe me, this country really thinks it’s disgraceful also.”
Clinton said, “I made a mistake using a private email.”
“That’s for sure,” Trump interjected.
“I don’t make any excuses,” she continued.
Third-party candidates
This was the first of three debates between Clinton and Trump sponsored by the nonpartisan Commission on Presidential Debates; the other two are Oct. 9 in St. Louis and Oct. 19 in Las Vegas, Nev. The vicepresidential nominees, Democrat Tim Kaine and Republican Mike Pence, will face off once, on Oct. 4 in Farmville, Va.
The third-party candidates did not qualify to participate in the debate because they did not meet a minimum polling threshold. Libertarian Party nominee Gary Johnson, who is positioned to be a potential spoiler in many states, and Green Party nominee Jill Stein both made appearances on campus Monday for media interviews. Stein staged a protest and at one point was ushered off campus by security because she did not have necessary credentials.