As you are all most likely aware, the US Presidential Election has been going on with Hillary Clinton being the Democrat’s pick and Donald Trump the Republican’s pick. Her Campus McGill has already done “An American’s Guide to Canadian Elections” and “A Canadian’s Views on the American Election,” but tonight, we’re going to cover the Presidential Debate for those of you who couldn’t watch or just want a recap.
Spoiler Alert: This was as civil as it got.
I think I can honestly say this was the most bizarre Presidential Debate to date, with Donald Trump creating words like “bigly” and “braggadacious.” Hillary Clinton seemed to be having a ball, as she laughed at Donald Trump’s accusations, while Donald Trump shrugged and made a series of false claims.
Some of the highlights included Donald Trump questioning why Hillary Clinton has all of a sudden come up with solutions to economic problems when she has been in office for years, and Hillary Clinton coming for Donald Trump’s entire life with statements such as: “”Maybe he is not as rich as he says he is. Maybe he is not as charitable as he claims to be. Maybe he doesn’t want the American people to know that he has paid nothing in federal taxes,” and “Well Donald, I know you live in your own reality…”
Here is a recap of the US Presidential Debate:
On Economic Policy:
Hillary Clinton – Broad-based, inclusive economic growth:
- Minimum wages should be raised
- Women should have equal pay
- We should invest in clean, renewable energy and small business
- There should be affordable childcare
- We should have debt-free college
- The wealthy should pay their fair share and corporate loopholes should be closed
- Need to have smart fair trade deals
Donald Trump – Bring back the jobs:
- Keep jobs in the country / Stop companies from leaving
- Child care is important
- Reduce taxes from 35% to 15% for companies, and business (small and large), which will create jobs because companies will come back and build in the US
- US trade agreements are defective – especially NAFTA
- Cut regulations on businesses
Hillary Clinton called Donald Trump’s economic plan “Trumped-up trickle down economics,” and reminded us about Trump’s fourteen million dollar loan from his father, which Trump reiterated was a “very small loan” and is now worth billions. Hillary Clinton also accused Trump of rooting for the housing crisis to which he responded, “That’s called business, by the way.”
On Donald Trump’s failure to release his tax returns and Hillary’s private email debacle:
After complaining about not complaining about being audited every year, Donald Trump announced that he would release his tax return if Hillary produced the 33,000 (in fact 15,000) emails that Hillary had deleted. Hillary then called out Trump for not paying taxes, to which he non-chalantly replied, “That makes me smart.”
Hillary once again admitted her mistake in response, which Trump did not accept, stating: “That was more than a mistake. That was done purposely.“
On race in America:
Hillary Clinton:
- Race is a significant challenge that determines opportunities and how people get treated by the criminal justice system
- “Everyone should be respected by the law and everyone should respect the law.”
- Gun epidemic – too many guns on the street
- Restore trust – work with both police and communities
- We have to address systemic racism in our criminal justice system
- Need to deal harsh mandatory minimum sentences and need to have more second chance programs
- Private prisons are being ended in the federal system and should be ended in the state system as well
- Need comprehensive background checks and pass laws banning people on terrorist watch lists from buying guns
- Has put money in the budget towards re-training police officers to deal with the often fatal consequences of implicit bias
- Possibly offer support to police officers to deal with the mental health issues that they encounter
Donald Trump:
- We need law and order
- Stop and Frisk should be used (Note: Stop and Frisk was declared unconstitutional because it led to racial profiling)
- Illegal immigrants have guns
- Need better relationships between community and the police
- “… we need law and order in the inner cities because the people that are most affected by what’s happening are African-American and Hispanic people and it’s very unfair to them what our politicians are allowing to happen.”
- Agrees with Clinton about people on watch lists and no-fly lists
On Obama’s birth certificate:
Donald Trump patted himself on the back for getting Obama to produce his certificate, while attempting to play a game of “She started it,” by claiming that Hilary Clinton started the birther movement. Hilary Clinton’s response was to emphasize that the birther movement was founded on a racist lie and outline Trump’s past racist behavior, to which Trump responded, “… when you try to act holier than thou, it really doesn’t work.”
On American security:
Hillary Clinton:
- Cyberwarfare from independent hacking groups as well as organs of states, will be our biggest challenge
- Need to make it clear that the USA will defend the citizens of this country and its information
- Has a plan to defeat ISIS that involves limiting their online reach
- Intensify air strikes against ISIS
- Cooperate with partners around the world to gain intelligence
- Work with NATO to fight terrorism
Donald Trump:
- We’ve lost control and we have to do a better job
- We should have left troops in Iraq and taken the oil (which funded ISIS)
- Only pro-NATO if they focus on terrorism
- Nuclear weapons are our biggest problem
- USA defends countries who don’t pay the USA to do so, which is unsustainable since the USA are in debt – they should help the USA out
The talk about economic policies, race, and national security was littered with jabs, hilarious facial expressions, and non-subtle insults (some of which you have already read).
Here are 3 more that can be applied to daily life:
1. When your friend who always cancels plans makes plans with you:
2. When you’re talking to someone who makes no sense/ when you’re completely lost in class (Hillary’s face says it all):
3. When you really just feel the need to interject, regardless of the situation:
I will end this article with Hillary Clinton’s most iconic lines of the night that she said after Donald Trump “criticized” her for preparing for the Presidential Debate:
Regardless of where your loyalties lie, I think you can agree that this Presidential Debate has been one for the ages, and if you’re American, make sure to vote.
You can find the full transcipt of the Presidential Debate here.
Sources:
http://www.cnn.com/2016/09/26/politics/presidential-debate-hillary-clinton-donald-trump/
http://www.nytimes.com/2016/09/26/us/politics/presidential-debate.html?_r=0
http://www.npr.org/2016/09/26/495115346/fact-check-first-presidential-de…