Who won the debate? A round-by-round analysis of Clinton v Trump
September 27, 2016
The first debate of the 2016 campaign was divided by NBC into three sections. Sabrina Siddiqui and Ben Jacobs investigate who won each of them
Round one: Achieving Prosperity
Clinton
Hillary Clinton focused early on policy, laying out an economic agenda that called for reducing income inequality by raising the minimum wage, closing the gender pay gap and eliminating corporate tax loopholes. But she did not miss the opportunity to go after Donald Trump for being the first major-party nominee in more than 40 years to refuse to release his tax returns.
The Republican candidate managed to put his Democratic rival on the defensive on the Trans-Pacific Partnership, forcing her to explain why she came out against the landmark 12-nation trade agreement last year after previously supporting it. But Clinton was able to overcome the question in part because Trump repeatedly shouted over her attempts to answer it – placing the focus instead on his aggressive posture. SS
Trump
Donald Trump was strongest early in the debate, when he hit familiar talking points on trade and put Clinton on the back foot, having to defend her flip-flop on TPP and the controversial legacy of Nafta, the free trade agreement signed by her husband that many in the industrial midwest feel has cost manufacturing jobs. An off-key rehearsed line from a stilted Clinton about “Trumped-up trickle down economics” represented a brief window into what the debate might have been like if Trump had been able to act like a normal candidate for more than 10 minutes.
But the Republican nominee took Clinton’s bait and played defense on personal attacks almost immediately. After Clinton said: “He started his business with $14m, borrowed from his father,” Trump immediately responded, rather than turn the focus back on to trade, perhaps his strongest issue. BJ
Round two: America’s Direction
Clinton
Arguably Clinton’s strongest segment of the debate was when the discussion turned to race in America. The Democratic nominee, who holds broad support from African American voters, navigated the complex issue of police brutality by placing the emphasis on restoring trust between law enforcement and communities of color.
Clinton walked through an expansive criminal justice plan, which included more resources for police training but also the need to end mass incarceration. But beyond that policy, she put forth a unifying message that asked Americans to acknowledge the systemic barriers against minorities.
Wisely, when the topic shifted to birtherism – the conspiracy theory that Barack Obama was not born in the US – Clinton did not engage in a debate on the subject. She instead quoted Michelle Obama’s memorable speech at the Democratic Convention in July, in which the first lady said: “When they go low, we go high.” SS
Trump
Trump seemed far less comfortable on issues of race. After describing African Americans and Hispanics as “living in hell” and audibly groaning when his rival was describing “the vibrancy of the black church”, presenting a rosier picture of life in minority communities, the Republican nominee instead centered his pitch to minority voters on “stop and frisk”, a police tactic in New York that was ruled unconstitutional for racially targeting African Americans and Hispanics, and bragging that the country club he owned in Palm Beach, Florida, did not discriminate.
When the conversation flipped to birtherism, Trump tried falsely to blame Hillary Clinton’s 2008 campaign for first spreading the racially charged attack. Eventually, the Republican nominee boasted: “I think I did a great job and a great service not only for the country, but even for the president, in getting him to produce his birth certificate.” BJ
Round three: Securing America
Clinton
Eager to draw a contrast on national security, an issue high on Americans’ priorities amid recent terrorist attacks, Clinton relied on familiar characterizations of Trump: he was unfit to be president, unqualified and lacking the right temperament, and he should not have access to the nuclear codes.
For the benefit of voters tuning in to the race for the first time, Clinton enthusiastically highlighted Trump’s admiration for the Russian president, Vladimir Putin – regarded by most members of Trump’s Republican party as a dictator and a thug. The goal: to once more prove Trump is out of step with what is expected from a traditional nominee.
Despite her efforts to call out Trump for lying about the Iraq war, however, Clinton put the onus on fact-checkers to confrim that the former reality TV star did support the 2003 invasion. Trump once again falsely claimed he opposed the war all along, and it was unclear if the objections of either Clinton or the moderator, Lester Holt, were able to break through. SS
Trump
Trump resorted to familiar cliches, insisting that the US should have somehow “taken the oil” from Iraq in order to prevent the creation of Isis while he criticized Clinton for having plans to fight the terrorist group on her website. “I don’t think Gen Douglas MacArthur would like that too much,” said the Republican nominee.
He also stuck himself into the mire by repeatedly and enthusiastically claiming that he was against the Iraq war from the beginning. This is untrue and disproven by statements by Trump at the time. The Republican nominee instead said that if reporters only called Fox News personality Sean Hannity, who has appeared in a campaign ad on Trump’s behalf, they would hear the truth.
By the end of the debate, Trump also wandered into treacherous waters by insisting that his rival “doesn’t have the look. She doesn’t have the stamina” to be president – falling into yet other well-set trap allowing Clinton to attack him for crude comments he has made in the past about a beauty pageant contestant’s weight. BJ
Verdict
Despite Trump’s best efforts to land a few punches, the Republican nominee was unprepared and undisciplined. By contrast, Clinton was measured, avoided mistakes and demonstrated the merits of proper rehearsals.
