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In Second Debate, Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton Spar in Bitter, Personal Terms In Second Debate, Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton Spar in Bitter, Personal Terms
(about 1 hour later)
In a startling political maneuver before tens of millions of viewers, Donald J. Trump accused Hillary Clinton of smearing women who had accused Bill Clinton of sexually assaulting or harassing them. It turned their presidential debate Sunday night into the tawdriest in modern history as he sought to salvage his presidential candidacy after explosive reports about his past lewd comments about women. Donald J. Trump and Hillary Clinton collided in an almost unremittingly hostile debate on Sunday night, a 90-minute spectacle of character attacks, tawdry allegations, and Mr. Trump’s startling accusation that Mrs. Clinton had “tremendous hatred in her heart.”
In a remarkable political maneuver, Mr. Trump charged that Mrs. Clinton had smeared women who accused her husband, Bill Clinton, of sexually assaulting or harassing them, seeking to salvage his presidential candidacy after explosive reports about his past lewd comments about women.
Tense at first, and then increasingly angry as he grew more comfortable on the attack, Mr. Trump made the charges and noted that three of Mr. Clinton’s accusers were sitting in the audience.Tense at first, and then increasingly angry as he grew more comfortable on the attack, Mr. Trump made the charges and noted that three of Mr. Clinton’s accusers were sitting in the audience.
Both candidates were visibly uneasy throughout the debate, even refusing to shake hands when they took the stage, as the 90-minute event unfolded on a small stage with an almost unremitting hostility. Both candidates were visibly uneasy throughout the debate, even refusing to shake hands at the beginning, as the town hall event unfolded on a small stage in a highly charged atmosphere.
“Bill Clinton was abusive to women. Hillary Clinton attacked those same women — attacked them viciously,” Mr. Trump said, arguing that the accusations against Mr. Clinton were “far worse” than Mr. Trump’s remarks in 2005 that he could kiss and grope women because he was “a star.” “Bill Clinton was abusive to women. Hillary Clinton attacked those same women — attacked them viciously,” Mr. Trump said, arguing that the accusations against Mr. Clinton were “far worse” than Mr. Trump’s own remarks in 2005 that he could kiss and grope women because he was “a star.”
Mr. Trump apologized for those remarks but also repeatedly minimized them as “locker-room talk,” and even tried to blame Mrs. Clinton for raising them in light of Mr. Clinton’s behavior. Mr. Trump apologized for those comments but also repeatedly minimized them as “locker-room talk,” and even tried to blame Mrs. Clinton for raising them in light of Mr. Clinton’s behavior.
“She brings up words that I said 11 years ago — I think it’s disgraceful, and she should be ashamed of herself, to tell you the truth,” Mr. Trump said to scattered applause.“She brings up words that I said 11 years ago — I think it’s disgraceful, and she should be ashamed of herself, to tell you the truth,” Mr. Trump said to scattered applause.
Mrs. Clinton did not specifically rebut Mr. Trump’s charges about Mr. Clinton’s behavior, saying only, “So much of what he just said is not right.” Mrs. Clinton did not specifically rebut his charges about her husband’s behavior, saying only, “So much of what he just said is not right.”
Instead, she broadened her indictment of Mr. Trump beyond the 2005 recording, assailing him for refusing to show contrition for his inflammatory statements. Instead, she broadened her indictment of Mr. Trump beyond the 2005 recording, assailing him for refusing to show contrition for his many inflammatory statements.
“He never apologizes to anybody for anything,” Mrs. Clinton said. She unfurled a litany of his provocations, including his mocking a Gold Star family, accusing a Hispanic judge of being biased by virtue of his ethnicity, ridiculing a reporter who has a disability, and falsely claiming that President Obama was not born in America.“He never apologizes to anybody for anything,” Mrs. Clinton said. She unfurled a litany of his provocations, including his mocking a Gold Star family, accusing a Hispanic judge of being biased by virtue of his ethnicity, ridiculing a reporter who has a disability, and falsely claiming that President Obama was not born in America.
“Yes, this is who Donald Trump is,” Mrs. Clinton said about his 2005 remarks. “The question for us, the question our country must answer, is that this is not who we are.”“Yes, this is who Donald Trump is,” Mrs. Clinton said about his 2005 remarks. “The question for us, the question our country must answer, is that this is not who we are.”
After a tumultuous political weekend, the debate was watched extremely closely by Republican members of Congress, who are deciding whether to join dozens of elected Republican officials who have broken away from their party’s nominee. After a tumultuous political weekend, the debate was watched extremely closely by Republican members of Congress, who are deciding whether to join dozens of elected officials who have broken away from the party’s nominee.
Mr. Trump’s attacks on the Clintons — including a promise that, as president, he would appoint a special prosecutor to investigate Mrs. Clinton’s use of a private email server as secretary of state — were a new low in a presidential campaign that has often seemed like a race to the bottom because of Mr. Trump’s no-holds-barred assaults on his rivals. Mr. Trump’s attacks on the Clintons — including a promise that, as president, he would appoint a special prosecutor to investigate Mrs. Clinton’s use of a private email server as secretary of state — were striking even in a presidential campaign that has often seemed like a race to the bottom because of Mr. Trump’s no-holds-barred assaults on his rivals.
But no single answer by Mr. Trump seemed sufficient to put to rest the controversy over his remarks about women. As much as he apologized, he did not confess or reveal anything new about his treatment of women over the years. Nor did he say much to meet the goal set on Saturday by his running mate, Gov. Mike Pence of Indiana: “Show what is in his heart.” But no single answer by Mr. Trump seemed sufficient to put to rest the controversy over his 2005 remarks. As much as he apologized, he did not confess or reveal anything new about his treatment of women over the years. Nor did he say much to meet the goal set on Saturday by his running mate, Gov. Mike Pence of Indiana: “Show what is in his heart.”
Instead, Mr. Trump alternated between sounding chastened and defensive about his treatment of women and moving to energize his base, which remains deeply hostile to Mrs. Clinton. Instead, Mr. Trump alternated between sounding chastened or defensive and trying to energize his base, which remains deeply hostile to Mrs. Clinton.
He did so by blasting Mrs. Clinton relentlessly over her State Department email practices and repeatedly interrupting her, barely concealing his contempt. He said again that Mrs. Clinton should be “ashamed” of herself for deleting some of her personal emails while secretary of state. He did so by blasting Mrs. Clinton relentlessly over her State Department email practices and repeatedly interrupting her, barely concealing his contempt. He said again that Mrs. Clinton should be “ashamed” of herself for deleting some of the personal emails she sent as secretary of state.
“Oh, you didn’t delete them?” he said sarcastically. When she tried to answer, Mr. Trump again interjected. “What about the other 15,000?” he demanded.“Oh, you didn’t delete them?” he said sarcastically. When she tried to answer, Mr. Trump again interjected. “What about the other 15,000?” he demanded.
Finally, Mrs. Clinton, plainly exasperated, shot back: “O.K., Donald. I know you’re into big diversion tonight — anything to avoid talking about your campaign and the way it’s exploding and the way Republicans are leaving you.”Finally, Mrs. Clinton, plainly exasperated, shot back: “O.K., Donald. I know you’re into big diversion tonight — anything to avoid talking about your campaign and the way it’s exploding and the way Republicans are leaving you.”
At several points, Mr. Trump expressed his frustration with the two moderators, Anderson Cooper of CNN and Martha Raddatz of ABC, demanding that Mr. Cooper focus more on one of Mrs. Clinton’s biggest vulnerabilities, her email server. At several points, Mr. Trump expressed his frustration with the moderators, Anderson Cooper of CNN and Martha Raddatz of ABC, demanding that Mr. Cooper focus more on one of Mrs. Clinton’s biggest vulnerabilities, her email server.
“Why aren’t you bringing up the emails?” he asked, before flatly accusing the moderators of conspiring against him. “It’s nice, one on three,” he said.“Why aren’t you bringing up the emails?” he asked, before flatly accusing the moderators of conspiring against him. “It’s nice, one on three,” he said.
Mr. Trump appeared more confident and aggressive than he did in the first debate, often dismissing Mrs. Clinton’s arguments out of hand and painting her as a politician “for 30 years” who had no record of accomplishment. Mr. Trump appeared more confident and aggressive than he had in the first debate, often dismissing Mrs. Clinton’s arguments out of hand and painting her as a politician “for 30 years” who had no record of accomplishment.
“It’s just words, folks; it’s just words,” Mr. Trump said about Mrs. Clinton policy proposals. Forty-five minutes later, he added, “It’s all talk and no action.” “It’s just words, folks; it’s just words,” he said about Mrs. Clinton’s policy proposals. Forty-five minutes later, he added, “It’s all talk and no action.”
“Well, here we go again,” Mrs. Clinton said, arguing that Mr. Trump was misstating her record and getting his facts wrong. When Mr. Trump tried to interject, Mr. Cooper cut him off. “Please allow her to respond,” he said. “She didn’t interrupt you.”“Well, here we go again,” Mrs. Clinton said, arguing that Mr. Trump was misstating her record and getting his facts wrong. When Mr. Trump tried to interject, Mr. Cooper cut him off. “Please allow her to respond,” he said. “She didn’t interrupt you.”
Asked by a Muslim audience member about Islamophobia, Mr. Trump ignored the question almost entirely. Instead of answering, he used his allotted time to suggest that Muslim Americans were not reporting the terrorists in their community and to assail Mrs. Clinton and Mr. Obama for refusing to use the phrase “radical Islamic terrorism.” Mr. Trump made little, if any, effort to appeal to moderate voters, instead hurling a series of insults at Mrs. Clinton. At one point, an audience member pressed him about whether he could be a “devoted president” for all Americans, and he said emphatically that he could be, without acknowledging that his comments over the past year had been extraordinarily divisive. Instead, he attacked Mrs. Clinton.
Mrs. Clinton, striding past Mr. Trump to approach the audience member, accused Mr. Trump of engaging in “demagogic rhetoric about Muslims.” She took aim at his criticism of the family of Capt. Humayun Khan, the Army officer killed in Iraq whose parents Mr. Trump mocked. “She calls our people ‘deplorable,’ a large group, and irredeemable,” Mr. Trump said, invoking a comment that Mrs. Clinton made last month disparaging what she said was half of Mr. Trump’s supporters.
Mr. Trump called Captain Khan “an American hero.” But when pressed on whether he had backed off his proposal to ban Muslim immigration to America — as his running mate flatly said last week that he had — he refused to say unambiguously that he no longer supported the idea. Mrs. Clinton’s response reflected a strategy of hers throughout the town hall-style debate: trying to engage directly with the undecided voters in the audience who asked some of the questions, and showing her empathetic side.
“It’s called extreme vetting,” he said, employing a phrase he has previously used to describe his proposal. “Mr. Carter,” she said, naming the man who asked the question, “I have tried my entire life to do what I can to support children and families. You know, right out of law school, I went to work for the Children’s Defense Fund. And Donald talks a lot about, you know, the 30 years I’ve been in public service. I’m proud of that.”
Mr. Trump then accused Mrs. Clinton of supporting a huge increase of refugees to America, prompting Mrs. Clinton to vow that she would not “let anyone into our country that I think poses a risk to us.” Mr. Trump, however, was far less concerned with connecting with the voters seated in front of him than with attacking Mrs. Clinton in ways that would rally his voters behind him, and against the Republican officials who have been coming out against him.
The night unfolded in striking and often dramatic fashion. Shortly before the debate, Mr. Trump held a brief news conference in St. Louis with three women — Paula Jones, Juanita Broaddrick and Kathleen Willey — who allege that Mr. Clinton sexually assaulted or harassed them during his years in office in Arkansas or as president. They were joined by a fourth woman, Kathy Shelton, who was 12 when she was raped by a 41-year-old man in Arkansas; Mrs. Clinton represented the man, who ultimately pleaded guilty to a reduced charge. “She’s lied about a lot of things,” Mr. Trump said, contending that Mrs. Clinton’s shift to opposing the Trans-Pacific Partnership trade deal was a falsehood. Moments later, he painted her in some of his most vicious language of the campaign.
Mr. Trump’s gambit — which was broadcast on Facebook Live — was intended to rattle Mrs. Clinton before the debate, but it went against the advice of leading Republicans and even some of Mr. Trump’s own loyalists that he resist the temptation of targeting women tied to Mr. Clinton. “She has tremendous hatred in her heart,” Mr. Trump said. “She has tremendous hatred.”
As Mr. Trump sat silently, the women described the experiences they said they had had with Mr. Clinton and also defended Mr. Trump over his 2005 remarks. In the debate hall, the women sat in prime seats with Mr. Clinton and Chelsea, the Clintons’ daughter, also in attendance. In that moment and several others, Mr. Trump sought to bait Mrs. Clinton into lashing out, just as she did to great effect during their first debate. But she kept her composure, while Mr. Trump often seemed disgusted and running at a high boil.
Mr. Clinton looked slightly uncomfortable as he entered the hall, looking at the crowd as he walked toward Mr. Trump’s wife, Melania. The two shook hands moments later, and Mr. Clinton greeted Mr. Trump’s daughter Ivanka as well. When Mrs. Clinton said Russia was responsible for atrocities in Syria and mentioned Mr. Trump’s praise for the Russian president, Vladimir V. Putin, Mr. Trump replied bluntly that he did not know Mr. Putin. But then he came to Russia’s defense by questioning whether it was responsible for the hack of the email servers of the Democratic National Committee.
Over the weekend, Mr. Trump’s preparations for the debate were unfocused and halting, as his campaign was preoccupied with the political fallout from his recorded remarks. By Sunday morning, even as Republican leaders pleaded with him to show more contrition, he and his campaign appeared increasingly defiant. “I know nothing about Russia,” he said, momentarily pausing before adding, “I know about Russia.”
In a series of Twitter messages, Mr. Trump savaged those in the party who had renounced him, a troubling sign to some leading Republicans who had signaled that their future support for him would be based in part on how he responded to this crisis. Mr. Trump said he had “no loans with Russia,” and veered into a digression about having “a great balance sheet,” which allowed him to build a new Trump hotel at the Old Post Office on Pennsylvania Avenue in Washington.
“So many self-righteous hypocrites,” he wrote of the defectors. “Watch their poll numbers — and elections — go down!” And with Mr. Trump’s running mate, Mr. Pence, weighing whether he even wanted to remain on the same ticket, Mr. Trump used a question about Mr. Pence’s hard-line rhetoric on Russia at last week’s vice-presidential debate to humiliate him.
For the Clinton campaign, the news of Mr. Trump’s lewd remarks was a political gift, and a timely one, during debate preparations. The recording fit neatly into the argument that Mrs. Clinton was already planning to press about Mr. Trump’s attitudes toward women, an issue on which she capitalized strongly at their first debate 13 days ago. “He and I haven’t spoken, and I disagree,” Mr. Trump said, not hesitating to isolate his own running mate.
Clinton advisers say they would like nothing more than for a fight about gender to dominate the final four weeks of the presidential campaign. Several of these advisers said in interviews that they were confident Mr. Trump’s words about women would hurt him far more than any backlash Mrs. Clinton might experience as a result of renewed attention to Bill Clinton’s extramarital affairs or her own behavior toward the women associated with him. If Mr. Pence was bothered by Mr. Trump’s separating himself over Russia, or his assault on Mrs. Clinton over her husband’s infidelity, it was not enough to prompt him to abandon the ticket.
Mrs. Clinton had been gaining in national and swing-state polls even before the latest Trump controversy began Friday afternoon. She has fought Mr. Trump into a statistical tie in Ohio, where he appeared to have a small edge through September, and she has regained solid leads in Colorado and Pennsylvania, according to recent polls. She also has a small lead in the latest North Carolina polls and is running closely with Mr. Trump in Florida. “Congrats to my running mate on a big debate win!” Mr. Pence wrote on Twitter, adding, “Proud to stand with you as we #MAGA,” a reference to Mr. Trump’s slogan, “Make America Great Again.”
The third and final presidential debate will be held in Las Vegas on Oct. 19, with Chris Wallace of Fox News serving as moderator. Unlike Sunday’s town hall format, the next debate will be more traditional, with the two candidates at lecterns and fielding questions from Mr. Wallace. The night unfolded in dramatic fashion. Shortly before the debate, Mr. Trump held a brief news conference in St. Louis with three women — Paula Jones, Juanita Broaddrick and Kathleen Willey — who allege that Mr. Clinton sexually assaulted or harassed them during his years in office in Arkansas or as president. They were joined by a fourth woman, Kathy Shelton, who was 12 when she was raped by a 41-year-old in Arkansas; Mrs. Clinton represented the man, who ultimately pleaded guilty to a reduced charge.
Only in the final minutes was there a brief cessation in the warfare. One audience member asked the candidates to cite something positive about each other, and Mrs. Clinton reached for a common answer to such questions. “Look, I respect his children,” she said. “His children are incredibly able and devoted, and I think that says a lot about Donald.”
Mr. Trump thanked her for the “very nice compliment,” and then offered his own.
“I will say this about Hillary: She doesn’t quit, she doesn’t give up,” he said. “She’s a fighter.”
A moment later, after the moderators concluded the debate, Mr. Trump reached out his hand, and Mrs. Clinton shook it.