Donald Trump vs HIllary Clinton: 10 points from the US Presidential Debate


For those of you who missed the Trump vs Clinton 1st US Presidential debate, here's 10 key points from it that mattered. The pair squared off in a 90-minute debate at Hofstra University in New York as the race to the White House heated up considerably. Topics included ISIS and the war on terror, tax returns and 'temperament'.

I'm sure most of us outside of the United States watched it with great interest as well, after all, as the global market space converge into a smaller space, the market around the world do get affected by policies that is issued in other parts of the world.


1. Jobs and the economy

The candidates kicked off with different approaches to the first question on Americans' wealth and work, with Mrs Clinton looking to future policies while Mr Trump targeted the Democrats' record in government.

Mrs Clinton noted that it was her granddaughter Charlotte's second birthday as she pledged to achieve gender parity in the workplace and increase taxes for the wealthy.

Mr Trump said the US had lost jobs to Mexico and industry to China and promised to revive the US economy by lowering taxes, cutting regulation and renegotiating trade deals.

He repeatedly attacked his rival's husband, former US president Bill Clinton , for the North American Free Trade Agreement which was approved under his administration in the 1990s.

Mrs Clinton used the subject of family income to launch a personal attack on Mr Trump, contrasting his charmed start in life with her own.

2. Emails and tax returns

Mrs Clinton admitted she had made a mistake by using a private email system during her tenure as US secretary of state.

Mr Trump said he would only disclose his tax affairs if his rival releases the "33,000 emails" deleted from her private server.

However Mrs Clinton accused Mr Trump of hiding "something terrible", suggesting he may not be as wealthy as he claims, pay a low rate of tax or give smaller charitable donations than he has claimed.

3. Climate change

Mr Trump denied saying climate change was false despite having tweeted in January 2014: "Snowing in Texas and Louisiana, record setting freezing temperatures throughout the country and beyond. Global warming is an expensive hoax!"

4. Race

The candidates were asked how they would heal race relations in the wake of police shootings that have provoked outrage across the US. Mrs Clinton said gun violence is the leading cause of death among young African-American men and tackling the "plague of gun violence" is critical.

The pair clashed on "stop and frisk" laws, with Mr Trump claiming a judge's ruling that the practice was unconstitutional was wrong.

He said: "Right now our police are afraid of doing anything" and that if you walk down the streets in places like Chicago, "you get shot".

A theme throughout his campaign has been to "make America safe again".

5. "Birther" controversy

Mr Trump recently dropped a conspiracy theory that Barack Obama was not born in the United States and was therefore ineligible to serve as president.

The retreat came after years of campaigning for Mr Obama to release his birth certificate.

In the debate Mr Trump blamed Mrs Clinton for starting the false claim that Mr Obama was born in Kenya and said that he was instrumental in achieving the certificate's release.

Mrs Clinton accused her rival of spreading a "racist lie" that our "first black president" was not an American citizen.

6. Gender

During an exchange over her ability to cope with the physical demands of the job, Mrs Clinton referred to an episode between Mr Trump and US chat show host Rosie O'Donnell. "This is a man who has called women pigs, slobs and dogs," the Democrat said.

7. Gun laws

On a rare point of agreement between the candidates, Mr Trump said he supported Mrs Clinton's view that people on watch lists or no-fly lists should have restrictions on their ability to buy guns.

"We have to look very strongly at no-fly lists and watch lists," the tycoon said.

8. Defence and cyber security

After batting off questions over his temperament, Mr Trump said he would not use America's nuclear arsenal unless the US was struck with warheads first.

However he also said he "can't take anything off the table" and referred to issues with Iran and North Korea.

The candidates were quizzed on their views on cyber security, with a focus on Russia.

Mrs Clinton said the US "is not going to sit idly by" and let hostile nations attempt to hack public or private information.

Mr Trump's past praise of Russian President Vladimir Putin left him open to attack.

He simply replied "wrong" when the comments were raised.

9. Terror

Mr Trump was quick to bring national security into the debate even when the question was on a separate issue.

He first accused Mrs Clinton of leaking tactics to Islamic State on her campaign website and criticised the Obama administration for the ascendancy of the terror group.

The Democratic candidate said she is hopeful that IS will be eradicated by the end of the year - with taking out its leaders her top priority in office.

In the wake of several deadly terror-related incidents in the US, Mrs Clinton said her rival had "consistently insulted Muslims abroad, Muslims at home", while people from within the Muslim community would be key to fighting terror.

10. Fitness to serve

Both candidates appeared fit and well during the debate - however, sniffling by Mr Trump set chins wagging on Twitter.

After Mrs Clinton revealed earlier this month that she had been diagnosed with pneumonia, Mr Trump questioned whether she had the stamina to be president.

"You have so many different things you have to be able to do and I don't believe Hillary has the stamina," he said.

Mrs Clinton said Mr Trump should not talk about stamina until he has tried out the busy schedule she kept up as secretary of state.

Michael Yip

Phasellus facilisis convallis metus, ut imperdiet augue auctor nec. Duis at velit id augue lobortis porta. Sed varius, enim accumsan aliquam tincidunt, tortor urna vulputate quam, eget finibus urna est in augue.

No comments:

Post a Comment