In an event at many times that more closely resembled WWE main event than a U.S. presidential debate, both Donald Trump of the Republicans and Hillary Clinton of the Democrats were pilloried by verbal superslams when the pair traded ugly offensives that lowered the level of political civility in modern times.
The nastiness, name-calling, bragging, ridiculing and otherwise outrageous interjections came early and often robbing moderators control over the tempo of the debate and viewers of specific visions for the future of America.
Here are some things we learned:
Hillary ‘would be in jail’ if Trump were president
In the most-talked about moment on social media during the debates, Trump cut into Clinton’s two minutes for the umpteenth time to remind everyone that no enemy is spared in his quest for the most powerful office in U.S. politics. “It’s just awfully good that someone with the temperament of Donald Trump is not in charge of the law in our country –” Clinton started, before Trump butt in and stated flatly: “Because you’d be in jail.”
He also questioned why Bernie Sanders would align himself with “the devil,” referring to Clinton, after it was revealed by hacktivist group Wikileaks that top DNC officials worked in concert to stop the self-styled socialist from winning the party’s nomination.
Anderson Cooper called out Trump on ‘sexual assault’
Cooper was very direct in leveling an accusation at Trump based upon an audio snippet where the former “The Apprentice” star bragged of his standing with women in immodest and graphic terms that surfaced late last week.
“I’m very embarrassed by it,” Trump said. “I hate it. It’s locker room talk,” Then Trump completely changed the topic of conversation, something he did many times throughout the course of the debate, saying confidently “I will knock the hell out of ISIS.” Clinton responded that folks got to see “exactly who [Trump] is” and questioned his fitness to serve as president.
Sex tapes, more e-mail allegations and …Abraham Lincoln?
“I’m not un-proud of it.”
That was Trump’s response to Cooper when asked about his tweeting that social media ought to check out the sex tape of a former Miss Universe winner, a subject that dominated last week’s election coverage until his lewd comments were uncovered and created monster buzz. At one point, moderator Martha Radiate asked about new Wikileaks revelations that Clinton has claimed needing both a public and private stance on at least one issue. Clinton somehow related the words of Abraham Lincoln to her comments, before Trump interjected.
“Now she’s blaming the lie on the late, great Abraham Lincoln,” Mr. Trump said. “Honest Abe never lied. That’s the difference between Abraham Lincoln and you.”
Some policy was actually discussed, too
On taxes, Trump admitted to using a “carried interest rate” tax loophole that allowed him to pay no federal income tax citing common sense, and also named two of Clinton’s donors as also exploiting it for deductions. He promised to lower taxes and gave unspecific percentages, before claiming Clinton would raise taxes. Clinton ensured she would not raise taxes on American people making less than $250,000 and delivered a guarantee that corporations and the wealthiest people would no longer be able to skirt their responsibility.
The pair briefly touched on the health care law, with Trump calling it a “disaster” — a term he used incredibly frequently in order to describe America’s current state throughout the evening. He promised to repeal it and allow insurances to sell across state lines in uncertain terms, whereas Clinton said that without tearing the whole thing down, she would work with lawmakers to build upon the law. The former first lady also counted a few provisions that have helped some Americans who were previously uninsured obtain insurance.
Trump took his tried and true tough stance on immigration citing an “extreme vetting” program, while Clinton stated “We are a country founded on religious freedom and liberty.” And on foreign policy, she named the Kurds in Syria as someone she would arm while promising to deliver a defeat of ISIS and said it would be a “very serious mistake” to use American ground forces. Trump stumbled through his understanding of the war effort, while distancing himself from his VP pick Mike Pence, who said last week America should “be prepared” to use armed forces to strike Syrian government targets.