Presidential nominees Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton took the stage Monday night for the first Presidential debate at Hofstra University in New York just six weeks before the election.
Lester Holt, anchor of NBC Nightly News, moderated the debate and selected three main topics for the night. Holt chose “America’s Direction,” “Achieving Prosperity,” and “Securing America” as the topics, with two 15-minute segments being devoted to each topic, for a grand total of 90 minutes.
The debate started with a question on income inequality, and the candidates quickly offered opposing views on how to develop the economy. After Clinton said she wanted to close corporate loopholes in the tax code, Trump responded by saying he would reduce business taxes from 35 to 15 percent in order to stop companies from leaving the United States.
The economic portion of the debate largely centered on taxes and trade, and Trump went after Clinton’s support of trade deals he viewed as harmful to the economy before Holt questioned him on failing to release his tax forms. Trump originally stated he would release his tax forms once a routine audit was completed. When Holt noted that didn’t prevent him from being able to release them, Trump offered to release them before the audit was completed if Clinton released her deleted emails. When Clinton alleged that Trump had not paid any Federal taxes, Trump interjected, “that makes me smart.”
The differences of opinion between the candidates carried over into the second portion of the debate, which questioned the nominees on how they would handle the nation’s growing racial divide. Clinton emphasized gun control and restoring trust, while Trump stressed his ability to create law and order and suggested expanding the controversial practice of stop-and-frisk.
“We have gangs roaming the street. And in many cases, they’re illegally here, illegal immigrants. And they have guns. And they shoot people. And we have to be very strong,” said Trump.
Holt confronted Trump on the legality of stop-and-frisk after it was ruled unconstitutional following years of practice in New York City. Trump responded by arguing that ruling would have been overturned had it been appealed.
During the discussion on race relations Trump said the African-American community had been let down by current politicians, which led to Holt pressing Trump regarding the “birther controversy” and his investigation into President Obama’s birth certificate. Trump defended his actions and ruled the ordeal as a personal victory and a national service for getting the President to produce his birth certificate.
The final segment of the debate, “Securing America,” started with Clinton emphasizing cybersecurity, while Trump mentioned his endorsement for President by 200 admirals and generals. A question concerning the handling of domestic terrorism soon turned into a debate on the handling of ISIS and Iraq War stances.
Trump maintained his opposition to the Iraq War from the beginning, despite Holt arguing that the record showed otherwise. Clinton also criticized Trump’s lack of a public plan to defeat ISIS and Trump responded that Clinton had fought ISIS for her entire adult life.
The debate continued to take tangents as Trump’s temperament became an impromptu topic of debate, and Trump listed it as his greatest asset.
The last portion of the debate ended with a segment on nuclear weapons. Trump began by condemning the Iran deal, while Clinton said she wanted to continue to honor current defense treaties with countries like Japan and South Korea.
The debate concluded with a question to Trump over a statement he made saying Clinton did not look presidential. Trump responded by saying he had in fact said Clinton didn’t have the stamina to be president.
“As soon as he travels to 112 countries and negotiates a peace deal, a cease-fire, a release of dissidents and opening of new opportunities and nations around the world or even spends 11 hours testifying in front of a congressional committee, he can talk to me about stamina,” Clinton replied.
The two candidates will face off in two more debates before the general election, with the next one on Oct. 9 at Washington University in St. Louis. Martha Raddatz of ABC and Anderson Cooper of CNN will co-moderate the debate which will feature questions from the general public in a town-hall meeting style.
Any student who permanently resides outside of Nebraska and plans to vote will need to check his or her home state’s absentee ballot process and voter registration. Election Day will be November 8 and will include local and state races along with the Presidential race.