Taking the stage without shaking hands, the candidates in the second presidential debate started off red-hot as Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump made their case for why the other is unfit for the presidency.
Hours before the debate held at Washington University in St. Louis, Trump held a short news conference with four women who claim former President Bill Clinton sexually assaulted them during his time in Arkansas or in the Oval Office. The press conference suggested Trump would take the offensive during the debate.
The conference was in retaliation to a 2005 video recording that uncovered Trump making derogatory comments about women, released by the Washington Post just two days before the debate. In the aftermath, many Republican leaders rescinded their endorsements and made critical statements of the business mogul.
Clinton had also been hit by controversy ahead the debate. The same day of the 2005 video reveal, Wikileaks published more than 2,000 emails from Clinton’s campaign chair that portray Clinton as a candidate who appeals to different ideas in public than she does in private.
The debate, moderated by Anderson Cooper and Martha Raddatz, was in the form of a town hall meeting, with half of the questions coming from audience members and half from the moderators.
The kickoff question inquired whether the candidates were modeling appropriate and positive behavior for today’s youth. In the next 90 minutes, the candidates attacked each other’s character and continually fact-checked one another.
Trump, after a fiery first 20 minutes, was more aggressive than in the first presidential debate and answered questions that challenged Clinton’s judgement on immigration, healthcare and foreign policy.
The debate ended on a positive note, with the candidates complimenting each other and shaking hands.
