Trump, Clinton square off in ugly debate

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Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton

Alex Cole, Staff writer

Sunday Oct. 9 marked the second presidential debate between the Democratic candidate Hillary Clinton and Republican Donald Trump. The debate was moderated by Anderson Cooper and Martha Raddatz.

Ironically, in a debate where the first question asked whether the nominees were a positive influence for the nation’s youth, the clash between nominees was filled with more insults and name calling than any previous presidential debate.

The debate aired just days after video appeared of Trump making degrading remarks about women. Trump was caught on camera boasting about his sexual encounters with women; it was one of the most talked about topics during the debate.

Trump apologized for his remarks prior to the debate, but once the debate began he shifted the focus from his provocative language to President Bill Clinton’s alleged actions.

“There’s never been anybody in the history of politics in this nation that’s been so abusive to women,” Trump said. “Bill Clinton was abusive to women.”

While Trump’s taped conversation was the topic of interest pertaining to the Republican candidate, Clinton once again received questions about her email scandal. Unlike the previous debate where Clinton owned up to her careless mistakes with handling classified emails, on Sunday Clinton defended her actions.

“I am very committed to taking classified information seriously,” Clinton said. “And as I said, there is no evidence that any classified information ended up in the wrong hands.”

As the debate shifted to policy issues, Clinton and Trump were both asked about the Affordable Care Act. Neither candidate altered their position on the issue of healthcare; Trump bashed Obamacare for its flaws, promising to repeal it, while Hillary proposed minor changes to improve the current healthcare system.

The final presidential debate will occur on Wednesday, Oct. 19 at University of Nevada-Las Vegas. It will be moderated by Fox News anchor Chris Wallace.