Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/732282
14 DONALD Trump's freewheel- ing approach spun wildly out of control in the first presidential debate as he was forced on the defensive during a chaotic clash with Hillary Clinton. Goaded by Clinton and pressed hard by moderator Lester Holt, the Republican nominee angri- ly defended his record against charges of racism, sexism and tax avoidance for much of the 90-minute debate at Hofstra University, outside New York City. Trump hit Clinton on trade and her political record – issues that have helped him draw level in re- cent polls and may yet dominate the election – but appeared thin- skinned and under-prepared as he sniff led his way through the debate. "It's all words, it's all sound- bites," he retorted after a par- ticularly one-sided exchange, adding that Clinton was a "typi- cal politician: all talk, no action". But the Democratic nominee seized on Trump's meandering responses and apparent loss of focus as their long-anticipated meeting wore on. "Words matter when you run for president, and they really do matter when you are president," said Clinton. "I think Donald just criticized me for preparing for this debate. And yes I did. You know what else I did? I prepared to be presi- dent," she added. In her sharpest exchanges, the former secretary of state accused Trump of racism for questioning Barack Obama's citizenship. "He has a long record of engag- ing in racist behavior. And the birther lie was a very hurtful one," said Clinton. She also accused him of "stiff- ing thousands" of contractors by declaring bankruptcy as a businessman. And in a powerful closing argument she highlight- ed Trump's record of sexism, noted that he had called women pigs and slobs and, in one case, called a beauty contestant Miss Housekeeping "because she was Latina". In turn, Trump attacked Clin- ton's suitability as president in blunt terms. "She doesn't have the look and she doesn't have the stamina," he said. "I've been all over the place. You decided to stay home," he added. But after rattling off her record of visiting 112 countries in four years as secretary of state, Clin- ton shot back: "When Donald Trump spends 11 hours testif y- ing in front of a congressional committee, he can talk to me about stamina." Some of his responses seemed little more than free-associative non-sequiturs. "I have a son who's 10, he's so good with com- puters," said Trump when asked about US cybersecurity weak- nesses. Trump took to the media spin room immediately after his de- bate to defend his performance. Boris Epsheteyn, a Trump cam- paign spokesman, criticized the moderator: "Lester Holt inter- rupted Mr Trump more. He fol- lowed up with Mr Trump more. He was much harder on Mr Trump." However, Trump him- self said that he thought Holt did "a great job". Meanwhile, Clinton's campaign basked in a victory lap – declar- ing that the debate had under- scored Trump was both "un- hinged and unfit to be president" – but was cautious not to bolster expectations on its impact. "He came in unprepared and what we saw was kind of a melt- down," said Clinton campaign chairman John Podesta. "We'll have to see how the vot- ers judge this," Clinton cam - paign manager Robby Mook told reporters. "But I think the consensus of this entire debate was that Secre- tary Clinton was the only one on that stage prepared to be presi- dent, and I think the totality of the debate proved how deeply unfit he was." Aides to Clinton said they had expected Trump to showcase a more subdued demeanour, cit- ing his efforts in recent weeks to stick to a teleprompter on the campaign trail and tone down his bombast. "We thought we'd see a more disciplined Trump tonight – maybe someone who'd try to steal an early headline with a gesture of grace and show some magnanimity," said Clinton spokesman Brian Fallon. "Instead, this was the same Donald Trump in the primary. Which, of course, is the true Trump." maltatoday, WEDNESDAY, 28 SEPTEMBER 2016 US Election CNN poll declares Clinton winner of first debate HILLARY Clinton was deemed the winner of Monday night's de- bate by 62% of voters who tuned in to watch, while just 27% said they thought Donald Trump had the better night, according to a CNN/ ORC Poll of voters who watched the debate. That drubbing is similar to Mitt Romney's dominant performance over President Barack Obama in the first 2012 presidential debate. Voters who watched said Clin- ton expressed her views more clearly than Trump and had a bet- ter understanding of the issues by a margin of more than 2-to-1. Clinton also was seen as having done a better job addressing con- cerns voters might have about her potential presidency by a 57% to 35% margin, and as the stronger leader by a 56% to 39% margin. The gap was smaller on which candidate appeared more sincere and authentic, though still broke in Clinton's favour, with 53% say- ing she was more sincere vs. 40% who felt Trump did better on that score. Trump topped Clinton 56% to 33% as the debater who spent more time attacking their oppo- nent. Although the survey suggested debate watchers were more apt to describe themselves as Democrats than the overall pool of voters, even independents who watched deemed Clinton the winner, 54% vs. 33% who thought Trump did the best job in the debate. And the survey suggests Clinton outperformed the expectations of those who watched. While pre- debate interviews indicated these watchers expected Clinton to win by a 26-point margin, that grew to 35 points in the post-debate sur- vey. About half in the poll say the de- bate did not have an effect on their voting plans, 47% said it didn't make a difference, but those who say they were moved by it tilted in Clinton's direction, 34% said the debate made them more apt to vote for Clinton, 18% more likely to back Trump. On the issues, voters who watched broadly say Clinton would do a better job handling foreign policy, 62% to 35%, and most think she would be the bet- ter candidate to handle terrorism, 54% to 43% who prefer Trump. But on the economy, the split is much closer, with 51% saying they favour Clinton's approach vs. 47% who prefer Trump. Most debate watchers came away from Monday's face-off with doubts about Trump's ability to handle the presidency. Overall, 55% say they didn't think Trump would be able to handle the job of president, 43% said they thought he would. Among political inde- pendents who watched the debate, it's a near-even split, 50% say he can handle it, 49% that he can't. And voters who watched were more apt to see Trump's attacks on Clinton as unfair than they were to see her critiques that way. About two-thirds of debate view- ers, 67%, said Clinton's critiques of Trump were fair, while just 51% said the same of Trump. Assessments of Trump's attacks on Clinton were sharply split by gender, with 58% of men seeing them as fair compared with 44% of women who watched on Mon- day. There was almost no gender divide in perceptions of whether Clinton's attacks were fair. The CNN/ORC post-debate poll includes interviews with 521 registered voters who watched the September 26 debate. Results among debate-watchers have a margin of sampling error of plus or minus 4.5 percentage points. Respondents were originally in- terviewed as part of a September 23-25 telephone survey of a ran- dom sample of Americans, and in- dicated they planned to watch the debate and would be willing to be re-interviewed when it was over. Trump loses cool, Clinton stays calm during first US presidential debate Donald Trump's freewheeling approach spun wildly out of control in the first presidential debate as he was forced on the defensive during a chaotic clash with Hillary Clinton.