Photo Courtesy of MCT Campus
Hilary’s Points
Achieving Prosperity
As expected, Hillary Clinton’s plan for achieving prosperity in America includes increasing taxes on the wealthy, while cutting taxes for the poor and middle class. At one point in the debate, Donald Trump even agreed with her that America should invest in the middle class by creating jobs; however, it was the two candidate’s means of creating jobs that differed. Clinton continuously reminded everyone that her job creation plan, which includes investing in areas where we can grow the economy, like clean energy, will create 10 million new jobs for Americans. But when Trump countered that his job creation plan would also create millions of new jobs, Clinton told viewers to visit her website, hillaryclinton.com, which had been turned into a fact checker, to see that his plan would in fact cost the U.S. three million jobs. Besides job creation and a decrease in taxes, Clinton also shared her hopes of making college debt free by allowing students to refinance their debt at a lower rate and raising the minimum wage. But the true drama of this section in the debate was in the candidates’ bickering about emails and tax returns. Trump vowed to release his tax returns as soon as Clinton released all her deleted emails.
America’s Direction
The first question mediator Lester Holt threw at the candidates under the topic of “America’s Direction” asked the candidates how they planned to deal with the race problem in America. Both Clinton and Trump agreed that better relations are needed between communities and police. However, Clinton called for “criminal justice reform,” while Trump called for “law and order.” Clinton ardently pointed out that gun violence is the leading epidemic of death for young African American men today. The topic of race then transitioned into a debate over gun control. Clinton explained that her plan included prohibiting anyone on the “no fly” list from purchasing a gun, along with increasing regulations on guns. Holt concluded this section of the debate by bringing up Trump’s denial of Obama’s presidency. From here, this section of the debate turned into a “he said, she said” over who was the first to question Obama’s citizenship status.
Securing America
Clinton kicked off the “securing America” section of the debate by attacking Trump for his praise of Russia’s president, Vladimir Putin. She pointed out that Russian cyberattacks are one of the greatest threats facing America, and Trump’s apparent celebration of Russia’s leadership undermines his qualifications as president. Trump countered by pointing out that Clinton’s work with ISIS should question her qualifications as president. Clinton responded with a plan to deal with ISIS that included working with technology companies to prevent ISIS from using the Internet to radicalize Americans, increasing protection against air strikes and working with our allies to take out their leadership. When Clinton asked what Trump’s plan was for dealing with ISIS, his response was that he didn’t want to show his cards to the enemy like she was. Clinton capped off the debate by reiterating that “a man who can be provoked by a tweet should not have his fingers getting near the nuclear buttons.” Most major news networks, including CNN and The Washington Post, named Clinton as the winner of the debate.
Clinton’s Best Lines:
“I have a feeling by the end of this evening, I’m going to be blamed for everything that’s ever happened” – Clinton’s response to Trump accusing her of moving companies out of the U.S.
“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 and nations around the world or even spends 11 hours testifying in front of a congressional committee, he can talk to me about stamina.” – Clinton’s response to Trump’s comments on her lack of a “presidential look.”
“Donald, I know you live in your own reality.” – In the midst of a back and forth over NATO, Clinton accused Trump of making up her stance.
Trump’s Points
Achieving Prosperity
Donald Trump came out guns blazing with his ideas to achieve American prosperity. He didn’t focus on the middle class like Hillary did; instead he had a different approach. His idea wasn’t to center our economy around clean energy, but to bring the big companies, like Ford, back to America. Companies have been leaving the U.S. to countries like Mexico and China because production is faster and workers are paid next to nothing wages. By bringing back these companies, Trump says he can create 25 million new jobs. Hillary fired back with her fact checker saying his plan would actually lose nearly three million jobs. Without a word, Trump lashed out saying “I will bring back jobs, you can’t.”
Along with job creation, Trump said he wants to cut taxes for the rich, this way businesses can expand, creating more jobs. Trump spent a majority of his time making comments back at what Hillary was saying, but never seeming to back up his own statements. Hillary accused Trump of not paying taxes, but he simply replied saying that made him smart. He added that he would release proof of his tax returns as soon as Hillary released her 30,000 deleted emails.
America’s Direction
Racial problems in the U.S. was the first question asked under this topic. Surprisingly, Trump and Clinton agreed on something. Both said relationships within communities and their police forces need to be bettered. But once the candidates were asked how they were going to fix this, they split. Trump focused on Chicago and it’s increasing murder rate. He said the only way to stop these homicides is to use the “stop-and-frisk” method. This is when a random pedestrian is selected by a uniformed officer, asked a question and then “frisked” for weapons and other contraband.
Trump used the words “law and order” countless times as his method to stop gun violence, while Hillary disagreed with his plan and called for a “criminal justice reform.” The debate went from law and order to gun control, and Trump said he’s a second amendment man and thinks there shouldn’t be limits on gun sales. The topic soon turned to another argument over whether Trump contested Obama’s truthfulness on his birth certificate.
Securing America
Trump began his spiel by taking shots at Hillary’s plans to take down ISIS. He explained that her ideas were immature, asking her why she had her plan up on her website for the enemy to see. Once Trump was asked what his ideas were, he refused to answer, telling Hillary he did not want to tell ISIS what he was going to do to them, which would defeat the purpose of his plan. Hillary used Trump’s friendship with Russian President Vladimir Putin as her comeback. The topic soon turned into another arguing match and Trump’s interruption count ran up to a total of 51.
Trump’s Best Lines:
“Hillary has experience, but it’s bad experience.” – Trump’s statement after he said Hillary says she has experience in political power, but Trump doesn’t.
“African Americans and hispanics are living in hell because it’s so dangerous. You walk down the street and get shot.” – Trump’s opening remark after being asked about America’s direction with racial problems
“That makes me smart,” – Trump in response to Clinton saying he might not pay federal income taxes.