5 of the best bits from the first US presidential debate
From Clinton's 'look' to Trump trumpeting himself
Last night, Donald Trump and Hilary Clinton took to the stage at New York’s Hofstra University for their first presidential debate. And whilst the Democrat defended her stances and policies coolly, Trump was characteristically chaotic – flitting between subjects ranging from taxes to ISIS to climate change.
But, despite displaying some carefully choreographed arguments, the Republican’s true colours (red, white and blue, he’d have you know) were best shown in the off-the-cuff remarks that doubtlessly had his advisers cringing in the wings. Here’s our pick of the best.
When Clinton initially responded to of one Trump’s more fiery barrages with the off-hand: “By the time tonight is finished, I’ve got a feeling I’m going to be blamed for everything that’s ever happened,” she probably expected a brief laugh and then to move on. Trump, seemingly a stranger to sarcasm, had other ideas, leant into his microphone and – quite sincerely – said “Why not?”
Clinton responded by accusing the Republican nominee of saying “crazy things”.
After an argument about Clinton’s deleted emails, the Democrat turned to taxes. During her open-minded musings about why Trump would go to such extents to hide his financial situation – with reasons ranging from him being poorer than he appears to not being as charitable as everyone thinks – Clinton brought up a casino license application that showed the businessman hadn’t paid any federal taxes. Trump responded as one would expect – smugly. “That makes me smart,” he said, again sincerely.
When called out on previous remarks, Trump was asked why he thought Hilary Clinton didn’t have a presidential ‘look’. Skirting around the question in a genuinely impressive – if slippery – way, the Republican said that he simply had concerns about Clinton’s stamina.
Clinton, however, had clearly been armed with a riposte to level against Trump’s looks – and she went ahead with it anyway. Bringing up the Republican’s strange fondness for beauty pageants, and past instances of him calling women ‘pigs’, ‘slobs’ and ‘dogs’, she topped off her criticism of Trump by branding him a racist.
A throwaway line at the end of one of the lengthier sections of debate, Clinton’s soundbite of the night may be the assertion that Trump ‘lives in his own reality’. Eliciting a big laugh from the audience, Clinton finally said what many people were thinking – that the Republican has his head in the clouds (and we’re not just talking about his hairstyle).
However, one of the most surreal episodes of the debate surely came when Trump trumpeted his own temperament. Using the word ‘winning’ over and over again, the Republican called to mind a 2011-era Charlie Sheen. And, in a debate during which Trump’s belief that climate change is a hoax perpetrated by the Chinese came to light, for this to be labelled the strangest moment is quite an achievement.
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