Clinton and Trump go head-to-head for the last time
October 26, 2016
There are less than two weeks until the presidential election of 2016. Less than two weeks until the forty-fifth president is chosen. Wednesday night, Oct. 19, was the last chance for both candidates to present their policies and ideologies, and to try and convince Americans to vote either red or blue.
The University of Nevada, Las Vegas, hosted the final showdown between Donald J. Trump and former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton. Over the last year and a half, each of the candidates’ respective campaigns have faced a number of ups and downs. However, in the final debate leading up to one of the most important American elections, Trump and Clinton spent 90 minutes arguing over a number of key issues such as Supreme Court appointments, abortion, immigration, the economy, foreign hotspots and the war against ISIS.
The first topic moderator Chris Wallace brought up was the appointment of Supreme Court justices. After the death of Justice Antonin Scalia earlier this year, Republicans and Democrats all over the country are fighting for his spot. Clinton supports President Obama’s recommendation of Merrick Garland because of the president’s constitutional duty to appoint justices. Trump however, believes that it is imperative to appoint the “right” judges.
Clinton wants to see a Supreme Court that upholds marriage equality, stands up for women’s rights, and takes down Citizens United. She wants the Supreme Court to be one that represents the American people.
Should Trump win, he wants to ensure that the Supreme Court supports the Second Amendment, which he believes Clinton will diminish.
Economically, Clinton wants to raise the national minimum wage and increase taxes for the wealthy. She believes that when the middle class thrives, the whole country thrives. She also wants women to receive equal pay for equal work.
Trump’s economic plans consist of renegotiating trade deals such as NAFTA, which in his opinion, is the worst trade deal ever imposed in the United States. He wants to cut taxes and bring back jobs to our country.
The final topic debated by the candidates was terrorism and the recent attacks in Mosul, Iraq. Trump continued to blame Clinton for helping to create ISIS and criticized how both she and Obama refuse to use the words “radical Islamic terrorism.” Clinton responded to Trump’s comments with her plans to take back Mosul and press into Syria. She also said that she is against putting American soldiers into Iraq as an occupying force.
In only 90 minutes, the two candidates had one last chance to present themselves as the ideal option for president. In an election with two candidates as widely disliked as Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton, it will certainly be interesting to say the least to see who will win on Nov. 8 and will become the next president of the United States.