HEMPSTEAD, N.Y. – Donald Trump was on the attack against Hillary Clinton from the outset of the debate while she was cool and dissmisive, turning his words and demeanor back on him amidst concerns he lacks the temperament to be president.
Trump’s initial attacks put Clinton on the defensive. She mostly shied away from defending the trade deals Trump criticized forcefully, But in the final two-thirds of the debate, Clinton regained her footing.
Trump pounced on Clinton at the outset, portraying her as an “all talk, no action” career politician who has been around for decades and has not done anything to create jobs and prevent companies from moving overseas.
Clinton fired back by suggesting Trump’s policies would favor only the wealthy, and as the debate turned to racial issues, she said Trump had a “long record of engaging in racist behavior.”
After initial exchanges of pleasantries, the debate turned fierce as Trump talked about bad trade deals and policies toward Mexico and China that he said had cost jobs, particularly in swing states such as Ohio and Michigan. He noted that, “We have to stop our jobs from being stolen from us.”
Clinton dubbed his economics plan, “Trumped up trickle down economics” and praised her husband Bill Clinton’s economic record in the 1990s. But Trump hammered NAFTA, which went through under President Clinton, as the worst trade deal ever negotiated in the U.S. He tried to describe her as a politician who didn’t know how business worked and hit her for wanting to raise taxes.
Trump repeatedly interjected as Clinton spoke, sighing into the microphone at times, which Clinton tried to brush off to make him come off as erratic, at one point saying, “I know you live in your own reality.”
Moderator Lester Holt pressed Trump on his refusal to release his tax returns, and Trump responded that he would release them when Clinton released her 33,000 deleted emails.
The debate also spent an extended amount of time discussing issues of crime and race. Trump praised the policy of “stop and frisk” for reducing crime as he reiterated his vow to restore “law and order” to the cities, but Clinton argued that it was unconstitutional. She also said that Trump had a “dire, negative” portrayal of the black community.
“The African-American community has been let down,” Trump said, criticizing politicians who speak of issues of importance to black Americans only during election years.
When Holt brought up Trump’s years of questioning of Obama’s citizenship, Clinton attacked him for starting his political career in 2011 with a racist attack on President Obama, who she called a “man of great dignity.” This was part of a broader strategy to embrace Obama, who remains popular among the Democratic base, African Americans, and young voters, who she needs to turn out in large numbers to win. She also cited a 1973 Department of Justice lawsuit filed against Trump for housing discrimination. She said, Trump had, “long record of engaging in racist behavior.”
In response to Clinton’s charges, Trump reminded viewers of Clinton’s bitter primary against Obama in 2008, citing reports that her friend and confidante Sidney Blumenthal pushed theories about Obama’s citizenship. He said his family’s real estate company settled the discrimination suit without admitting fault.
Trump defended his position on the Iraq War, saying the idea that he ever supported the invasion was “mainstream media, put out by her.”
“The record shows that I’m right,” he said. “When I did an interview with Howard Stern, very lightly, first time anyone’s asked me that, I said, very lightly, ‘I don’t know, maybe, who knows?’ essentially.”
Trump also said Clinton showed poor judgment with the Iran deal.
“You look at the Middle East. It’s a total mess. Under your direction, to a large extent. But you look at the Middle East. You started the Iran deal. That’s another beauty where you have a country ready to fall, they were doing so badly. They were choking on the sanctions and they’re going to be a major power at some point the way they’re going,” Trump said.
Trump insisted repeatedly that he had better temperament than Clinton, saying that she looked like she was out of control during a videotaped speech to a labor organization. Clinton smiled in response to Trump’s barrage and said, “Okay.”
As the debate wore on, Clinton pointed to Trump’s answers as evidence of his unfitness for the presidency. She brought up some of the same insults against women that touched off Trump’s feud with Fox News’ Megyn Kelly after the first Republican primary debate.
Trump replied, “I think everybody would agree that she deserves it and nobody feels sorry for her.”
In the spin room following the debate, the Clinton campaign said Trump became “unhinged” and “deranged,” while the Trump team argued that Clinton came across as “smug” and “canned.”
Clinton faced off against Trump as she finds herself locked in a race that’s much closer than most analysts expected even a few weeks ago.
Clinton, who came out of the late-July party conventions with a comfortable lead against Trump both nationally and in key states, is now in a dead heat against a political novice whose candidacy was once dismissed as a joke.
Whereas a few weeks ago, Trump had only one narrow path to victory, he now has multiple possible paths. A slew of new polls now show him either ahead, tied, or at least within striking distance in Florida, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Wisconsin, Colorado, Iowa, Nevada, Maine and Michigan — all states that Mitt Romney lost four years ago that have a combined 117 electoral votes of the 270 needed to capture the presidency.
The tightness of the contest has brought on added importance to the first debate at Hofstra University, where one major moment has the potential to tip the balance of the race. The highly anticipated debate, which some expect could be the most watched in history, features two candidates with contrasting styles.
Trump, a businessman and reality television celebrity-turned-politician, won the Republican nomination after a series of debates in which he overcame his lack of familiarity with the finer details in policy with a brash, in-your-face style which projected to primary voters the sense that he was authentic and that he’d be a strong, confident, leader.
Clinton has typically been a more subdued debater who has relied on her command of policy to come across as a steady hand who could be trusted with the responsibilities of the presidency.
What’s unique about the current presidential race is that it features two candidates who are each among the least popular major party nominees in history, meaning for many voters the decision will come down to who they view as the least bad choice.
According to a Monmouth University poll released on Monday, 75 percent of voters plan to watch the debate, though nearly nine in 10 said they don’t expect the event to change their vote.
The debate is 90 minutes without breaks, divided into six 15 minute segments.
