This past Monday, Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump faced off at the podium against each other for the first time. The debate took place at Hofstra University in New York and was moderated by Lester Holt, from NBC. The ninety-minute debate was divided into six segments, each fifteen minutes long.
While Clinton continued a trend of remaining calm and collected, Trump quickly got worked up. During several statements of Clinton’s, Trump interrupted to say “wrong." Both referenced fact-checking throughout the night, sure that their opponent’s statements would be factually incorrect. Trump claimed that he never called climate change “a hoax perpetrated by the Chinese,” in response to claims by Clinton that he did, in fact, say that. PolitiFact noted that he did say it was a hoax at a rally in 2015, and numerous sources have found tweets on Donald Trump’s Twitter making similar statements.
The night continued in a similar fashion. According to Politifact, Clinton had 60 true statements, while Trump had a noticeably low number of 12. On the opposite spectrum, Clinton had 27 false statements, while Trump had 96. Viewers seemed to take note of this, deeming Hillary Clinton the winner of Monday night’s debate in several polls. In a CNN/ORC poll of voters who watched the debate, 62% responded that Hillary Clinton did better. Twenty-seven percent responded that Donald Trump had a better night.
Clinton and Trump are now focusing on the next upcoming debate on October 9. Trump should focus more on preparation and his tone for the next debate, avoiding problems from the previous one. Clinton should continue to remain factual and present herself as trustworthy to the American public.
The next debate will be the Vice Presidential debate at Longwood University, in Virginia on October 4. Mike Pence and Tim Kaine will be facing off at the podium starting at nine o'clock.