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Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump Press Pointed Attacks in Debate Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump Press Pointed Attacks in Debate
(about 1 hour later)
Donald J. Trump relentlessly attacked Hillary Clinton over trade and her private email server during their fiery first debate on Monday night, often brusquely interrupting her, while Mrs. Clinton portrayed Mr. Trump as unqualified for the presidency and lacking facts to back up his arguments. In a relentlessly antagonistic debate, Donald J. Trump and Hillary Clinton clashed over trade, the Iraq war, his refusal to release his tax returns and her use of a private email server, with Mr. Trump frequently showing impatience and political inexperience as Mrs. Clinton pushed him to defend his past denigration of women and President Obama.
After initially approaching Mrs. Clinton with uncharacteristic restraint, even making clear to her that he would address her as “secretary,” Mr. Trump confronted her aggressively. He noted that her husband, Bill Clinton, signed the North American Free Trade Agreement into law and accused her of wanting to approve the Trans-Pacific Partnership. Mr. Trump repeatedly interrupted Mrs. Clinton and at times talked over her throughout the 90-minute debate, making slashing attacks that surely pleased his Republican base but may have been off-putting to women and undecided voters. He also left unchallenged her assertion that he paid no federal taxes for years.
“Nafta is the worst trade deal ever signed everywhere,” Mr. Trump said, invoking a pact that is deeply unpopular in several swing states, and then added that the Trans-Pacific Partnership “will be almost as bad.” After Mrs. Clinton said she had opposed the trade deal, Mr. Trump interjected and, raising his voice, talked over her. For her part, Mrs. Clinton repeatedly chided Mr. Trump for bungling his facts while accusing him of hiding information about his debts to Wall Street and foreign banks.
Mr. Trump’s strongest moments came early in the evening, when he put Mrs. Clinton on the defensive over her support for free trade agreements that he argues have cost Americans jobs.
But on issues of race and gender, Mr. Trump was less sure-footed. When he was pressed about what he would say to people offended by his years of questions about whether Mr. Obama was born in the United States, Mr. Trump did not respond directly, instead claiming credit for Mr. Obama’s releasing his birth certificate.
“I say nothing because I was able to get him to produce it,” he said of the birth certificate.
Mrs. Clinton also tried to drive a wedge between Mr. Trump and the president, whose approval ratings are on the rise. “Barack Obama is a man of great dignity, and I could tell how much it bothered him,” she said of the controversy, in a clear appeal to voters who deeply admire Mr. Obama but are less enthusiastic about her.
She also broadened the issue beyond so-called birtherism, which she called a “racist lie,” and accused Mr. Trump of having “a long record of engaging in racist behavior.” She singled out his family’s real estate company for being sued by the Justice Department in 1973 for racial discrimination.
Mr. Trump did little to rebut her charges of racism. He instead said that he had recently watched some of her debates with Mr. Obama in the 2008 Democratic primary and that she had been quite harsh on her then-rival. “You treated him with terrible disrespect,” he said. But Mr. Trump himself repeatedly demeaned Mr. Obama in the debate, at one point telling Mrs. Clinton that he was “your president.”
Later, Mrs. Clinton recalled Mr. Trump’s stream of insults to women over the years, a determined effort by her to rally female voters to her side.
“This is a man who has called women pigs, slobs and dogs, and someone who has said pregnancy is an inconvenience to employers, who has said women don’t deserve equal pay unless they do as good a job as men,” Mrs. Clinton said. Referring to a beauty pageant contestant, she continued: “He called this woman Miss Piggy. Then he called her Miss Housekeeping, because she was Latina. Donald, she has a name.”
Mr. Trump did not have a forceful rejoinder, saying that most of his insults had been aimed at the comedian Rosie O’Donnell, with whom he had feuded. “I said very tough things to her, and I think everybody would agree that she deserves it, and nobody feels sorry for her,” he said.
But Mr. Trump said mysteriously that he had “something extremely rough” to say about “Hillary and her family,” then added, “I can’t do it, I can’t do it.” He told CNN afterward that he was proud of “holding back” on Bill Clinton and his extramarital affairs because the Clintons’ daughter, Chelsea, was in the audience.
The debate took on a surreal quality at times, with more discussion of insults like “slobs” than immigration or the Affordable Care Act. Mrs. Clinton came off as a classically prepared debater who used Mr. Trump’s record and words against him at 19 separate moments, while Mr. Trump seemed to be improvising on stage much of the time. And Mr. Trump was stunningly personal in his attacks, such as questioning Mrs. Clinton’s stamina.
She fired back: “As soon as he travels to 112 countries and negotiates a peace deal, a cease-fire, a release of dissidents, an opening of new opportunities in nations around the world, or even spends 11 hours testifying in front of a congressional committee, he can talk to me about stamina.”
Mr. Trump also targeted Mrs. Clinton for not taking a sufficiently hard line on crime, chastising her for refusing to say “law and order.”
Blacks and Hispanics, he said, “are living in hell because it’s so dangerous.”
He attacked Mrs. Clinton from the right on policing, suggesting that she supported “stop-and-frisk” policies but was not saying so for unstated political reasons. But in an attempt to damage her with black voters, he also invoked her use of the word “superpredator” in the 1990s to describe youthful criminals. “I think it was a terrible thing to say,” he said.
The debate was like no other in the television era: The first female presidential nominee of a major party facing off against an alpha male businessman with no political experience, both of them world-famous and both of them deeply unpopular, with a potential record-setting audience of 100 million watching and hoping to see their preferred candidate blow the other to smithereens.
Mr. Trump seemed most confident when he accused Mrs. Clinton of lacking a record of success or results despite being in public life for 30 years. He tried to pin blame on her for decades of American policy, including the decision by her husband, Mr. Clinton, to sign the North American Free Trade Agreement into law, as well as her past support for the Trans-Pacific Partnership.
“Nafta is the worst trade deal maybe ever signed anywhere,” Mr. Trump said, invoking a pact that is deeply unpopular in several swing states, and then added that the Trans-Pacific Partnership “will be almost as bad.” After Mrs. Clinton said she had opposed the trans-Pacific trade deal, Mr. Trump interjected and, raising his voice, talked over her.
“You called it the gold standard,” he said, nearly shouting.“You called it the gold standard,” he said, nearly shouting.
Mrs. Clinton, in a measured tone and with a tight smile, responded with a harsh rejoinder of her own. “Donald, I know you live in your own reality, but that is not the facts,” she said.Mrs. Clinton, in a measured tone and with a tight smile, responded with a harsh rejoinder of her own. “Donald, I know you live in your own reality, but that is not the facts,” she said.
Mr. Trump hurled so many accusations at Mrs. Clinton — and with such fervor that he frequently had to sip water — that she found herself saying at one point, “I have a feeling that by the end of this evening, I’m going to be blamed for everything that’s ever happened.”Mr. Trump hurled so many accusations at Mrs. Clinton — and with such fervor that he frequently had to sip water — that she found herself saying at one point, “I have a feeling that by the end of this evening, I’m going to be blamed for everything that’s ever happened.”
“Why not?” Mr. Trump shot back.“Why not?” Mr. Trump shot back.
“Why not? Yeah, why not,” Mrs. Clinton replied. “You know, just join the debate by saying more crazy things.”“Why not? Yeah, why not,” Mrs. Clinton replied. “You know, just join the debate by saying more crazy things.”
The debate was like no other in the television era: The first female presidential nominee of a major party facing off against an alpha male businessman with no political experience, both of them world-famous and both of them deeply unpopular, with a potential record-setting audience of 100 million watching and hoping to see their preferred candidate blow the other to smithereens. Mrs. Clinton pressed Mr. Trump on his failure to release his tax returns, an issue that polls show is resonating with voters. She suggested that he had not made them public because they would show that “you haven’t paid any federal income tax for a lot of years.”
The opening seconds were almost surreal. For months, Mrs. Clinton has portrayed Mr. Trump as nothing less than an enemy of the republic, a demagogue who traffics in racism, sexism, xenophobia and a bizarre adoration for President Vladimir V. Putin of Russia, while Mr. Trump has relished calling her “crooked Hillary” and reveled in his supporters’ chanting “lock her up.” But after being introduced by the moderator, Lester Holt of NBC News, Mrs. Clinton and Mr. Trump strode across the stage toward each other, shook hands and even smiled. Mr. Trump did not dispute that, saying instead that the government would waste his money.
“How are you, Donald?” Mrs. Clinton said. “It would be squandered, too, believe me,” he said. At another point, he argued that he was “smart” to have avoided paying any federal income tax earlier in his career.
“Good, Hillary,” he replied. Mrs. Clinton assailed his economic policies as favoring wealthy Americans, calling them “trumped-up, trickle-down,” and then made the first of several attempts to bait Mr. Trump into an overreaction. She said that he had gotten a $14 million loan from his father to start his business and asserted that he “really believes the more you help wealthy people, the better off we’ll be.”
Seeing them side by side after so much rancor was a spellbinding moment in American politics. No one watching across the country, or across the world, knew what would happen next. Mr. Trump responded simply that it was “a very small loan,” a sign that he had been prepared to be careful about attacking.
Mrs. Clinton, taking the first question, got off to a confident start: Asked by Mr. Holt why she would be better at creating jobs, she said she would support small businesses, working parents, equal pay for women and paid family leave. Mr. Trump was steady as well, sounding familiar themes about cutting taxes and stopping auto manufacturers and other companies from moving jobs overseas. He also said that “Hillary and I agree on child care,” but parted ways on other topics. Mrs. Clinton also poked at Mr. Trump by saying he believed that climate change was a “hoax,” prompting him to interject, “I do not say that, I do not say that.” (He did, in 2012.)
Mrs. Clinton assailed Mr. Trump’s economic policies as favoring wealthy Americans, calling them “trumped-up, trickle-down,” and then made the first of several attempts to bait Mr. Trump into an overreaction. She said that he got a $14 million loan from his father to start his business and asserted that he “really believes the more you help wealthy people, the better off we’ll be.” He called himself “a great believer in all forms of energy” and said the nation had too much debt to risk jobs on energy policies that might protect the environment. Then he blasted Mrs. Clinton as a candidate with lots of policy ideas but no history of success.
Mr. Trump responded simply that it was “a very small loan” — a sign that he had been prepared to be careful about attacking Mrs. Clinton.
Mrs. Clinton also poked at Mr. Trump by saying he believed that climate change was a “hoax,” prompting him to interject, “I do not say that, I do not say that.” (He did, in 2012.) He called himself “a great believer in all forms of energy” and said the nation had too much debt to risk jobs on energy policies that might protect the environment. Then he blasted Mrs. Clinton as a candidate with lots of policy ideas but no history of success or results.
“Hillary, you’ve been doing this for 30 years,” Mr. Trump said. “Why are you just thinking about these solutions?”“Hillary, you’ve been doing this for 30 years,” Mr. Trump said. “Why are you just thinking about these solutions?”
“I have thought about this quite a bit,” she said.“I have thought about this quite a bit,” she said.
“Yeah, for 30 years,” he replied sarcastically.“Yeah, for 30 years,” he replied sarcastically.
The candidates were largely left to themselves to challenge and correct each other’s facts: The moderator, Mr. Holt, was an unobtrusive presence, asking pointed questions but infrequently butting in to stop Mr. Trump from interrupting Mrs. Clinton or talking over his time limit. Beyond the frequent policy clashes and vivid personality differences, the hostility between the two candidates was unmistakable. Mrs. Clinton was all icy stares and pointed rebukes, while avoiding the sort of prickly reactions that hurt Mr. Obama in his first debate against Mitt Romney in 2012 and were devastating to Al Gore in his initial debate against George W. Bush in 2000.
Mr. Trump was characteristically elastic with the truth, misstating Mrs. Clinton’s views on issues like trade and job creation, but Mr. Holt rarely called him out, and Mrs. Clinton had a hard time interjecting. Mr. Trump looked more irritable and impatient as the night went on, and lost his cool when Mrs. Clinton noted that he had initially supported the war in Iraq.
A revealing moment for Mr. Trump came when Mr. Holt asked him why he would not release his tax returns, as other presidential candidates have done for four decades. “I don’t mind releasing — I’m under a routine audit,” Mr. Trump said, then insisted that his financial disclosure form was available to the public, even though it lacks extensive details. Mr. Holt pressed him, saying that he was allowed to release his returns even under audit. Mr. Trump dodged the question. “Wrong,” Mr. Trump said. “Wrong, wrong.”
“I will release my tax returns against my lawyers’ wishes when she releases her 33,000 deleted emails,” Mr. Trump said, drawing a rare burst of applause from the audience as he referred to the messages Mrs. Clinton’s team deleted as nonwork-related when she turned over her State Department emails. Mr. Trump did signal support for the American invasion of Iraq at first, but when the moderator, Lester Holt of NBC News, pointed that out, Mr. Trump lashed out. “That is a mainstream media nonsense put out by her,” Mr. Trump said of Mrs. Clinton. When Mr. Holt said “the record shows otherwise,” Mr. Trump went on a long tangent about various antiwar comments he had made to allies like Sean Hannity of Fox News.
Mrs. Clinton seized on the issue of Mr. Trump’s taxes, which polls show is resonating with voters. When cornered at times, Mr. Trump tried to shift the subject, criticizing Mrs. Clinton for using a private email server as secretary of state.
“It must be something really important, even terrible, that he’s trying to hide,” she said. If Mr. Trump were “to get near the White House,” she continued, “what would be those conflicts? Who does he owe money to?”
Mr. Trump quickly criticized Mrs. Clinton for using a private email server as secretary of state.
“I made a mistake using a private email,” Mrs. Clinton said.“I made a mistake using a private email,” Mrs. Clinton said.
“That’s for sure,” Mr. Trump said.“That’s for sure,” Mr. Trump said.
“And if I had to do it over again, I would, obviously, do it differently,” she added.“And if I had to do it over again, I would, obviously, do it differently,” she added.
Mr. Trump would not let it go. “That was more than a mistake — that was done purposely,” he said. “When you have your staff taking the Fifth Amendment, taking the Fifth, so they’re not prosecuted, when you have the man that set up the illegal server taking the Fifth, I think it’s disgraceful.”Mr. Trump would not let it go. “That was more than a mistake — that was done purposely,” he said. “When you have your staff taking the Fifth Amendment, taking the Fifth, so they’re not prosecuted, when you have the man that set up the illegal server taking the Fifth, I think it’s disgraceful.”
Mr. Trump had one major task in the debate: to start persuading more voters that he has the competence and temperament to be commander in chief. That is a relatively low bar for a traditional nominee to pass, but a critical one for Mr. Trump given his history of making inflammatory and insulting comments about Hispanics, women, Muslims, people with disabilities and other groups.
He was on the attack against Mrs. Clinton from the start, mostly sticking to policy differences but often raising his voice, interrupting her, and sometimes talking over her and mocking her.
The candidates began the debate under breathtaking pressure, not only to turn around their record-setting unfavorability ratings, but also to outmaneuver and undercut each other. The first debates of a general election are often the best opportunity for candidates to make a new or reassuring impression, as Ronald Reagan, Bill Clinton and George W. Bush all did. But they can also be the moment that crystallizes a negative image, as happened with Al Gore’s off-putting performance in 2000.
Americans are on edge after recent bombings in New York and New Jersey, a fatal shooting at a mall near Seattle, and police killings of black men in Tulsa, Okla., and Charlotte, N.C., and they were watching the debate for answers on which candidate would do a better job keeping them safe.
Even leaders and citizens of other countries were focusing on the debate to an unusual degree, looking for signs about whether the United States’ longstanding and bipartisan commitment to a robust presence in the world would endure. Mr. Trump’s isolationist views, his criticism of NATO and his praise of President Vladimir V. Putin of Russia have raised concerns that his brand of fiery nationalism — akin to the divisive politics on the far right in France, Austria and elsewhere in Europe — might take root in the United States.
For many viewers, the event was the first major opportunity to assess whether Mrs. Clinton could vanquish Mr. Trump not just on the debate stage but also in the general election in November. Democrats have grown increasingly unnerved by polls showing a tightening race both nationally and in swing states like Ohio, Florida, Colorado and North Carolina. Mrs. Clinton continues to hold a modest lead in most national polls, but some of her allies say she needs decisive victories in the three presidential debates to solidify her position.
The main third-party candidates, Gary Johnson of the Libertarian Party and Jill Stein of the Green Party, were excluded by the debate’s sponsor, the bipartisan Commission on Presidential Debates. Neither met the threshold of 15 percent support in an average of five recent national polls.
The debate was the first of three; the next will be on Oct. 9 in St. Louis and will use the format of a town meeting, with uncommitted voters asking about half of the questions. The third will be on Oct. 19 in Las Vegas and will feature the same format as Monday’s.The debate was the first of three; the next will be on Oct. 9 in St. Louis and will use the format of a town meeting, with uncommitted voters asking about half of the questions. The third will be on Oct. 19 in Las Vegas and will feature the same format as Monday’s.
Mr. Trump has hinted at times that he might not participate in all three debates, arguing that they are “rigged” against him, without offering evidence. His allies say that he wants to leave himself options if he decides that the second and third debates could hurt him more than help, especially if his poll numbers improve in swing states after Monday’s event.
Still, Mr. Trump was widely seen as damaging his candidacy in the Iowa caucuses when he bowed out of a debate there because of past confrontations with a moderator from Fox News, Megyn Kelly. He ended up in second place in the caucuses.
The vice-presidential candidates will meet next, in their own debate on Tuesday, Oct. 4, in Farmville, Va.