Donald Trump, backed into a corner after the emergence of a video of him discussing sexual aggression towards women, held nothing back in the second presidential debate on Sunday night.
The Republican nominee said that if he was president, Hillary Clinton “would be in jail” over her email controversy and claimed that she “has tremendous hate in her heart”.
In what was one of the most negative and acrimonious debates in US presidential history, it was a matter of minutes before the lewd tape, in which Mr Trump brags about “grabbing p—-” and forcibly kissing women, was brought up.
Mr Trump had set out his stall half an hour before the start of the debate by holding a press conference alongside three women who have claimed they were sexually assaulted by Bill Clinton.
After apologising for “locker room talk” in the video during the debate, Mr Trump said those were just words, whereas “Bill Clinton was abusive to women”.
Mr Trump then attacked Mrs Clinton over her use of a private email server while she was US secretary of state, saying that if he was president she would be in jail.
“I hate to say it but if I win I’m going to instruct my attorney general to get a special prosecutor to look into your situation,” he said.
“There has never been so many lies, so much deception. The people in this country are furious.
“You ought to be ashamed of yourself.”
In response, Mrs Clinton said: “It’s just awfully good that someone with the temperament of Donald Trump is not in charge of the law in this country.”
Mr Trump replied, to cheers in the audience: “Because you’d be in jail.”
In an awkward moment for the Republican, Mr Trump said he disagreed with Mike Pence, his vice presidential running mate, who declared last week in his debate against Tim Kaine that the United States should be prepared to use military force if needed in Syria.
“He and I haven’t spoken and I disagree,” Mr Trump said.
Mrs Clinton went on to accuse Russia of trying to tilt the 2016 presidential election in Mr Trump’s favour with a series of email hacks.
“They’re doing it to try to influence the election for Donald Trump,” she said.
The final question of the night to the candidates was what they respected about each other.
Mrs Clinton said: “I respect his children. His children are incredibly able and I think that says a lot about Donald.”
Mr Trump said: “I will say this about Hillary – she doesn’t quit, she doesn’t give up. I tell it like it is. She’s a fighter.”
Having avoided a handshake at the start of the debate – Mrs Clinton had paused as they walked towards each other – the candidates shook hands, awkwardly, at the end.
Who won the debate? Our verdicts
David Lawler- Donald Trump
Hillary Clinton approached the debate trying not to lose, rather than going for the win. She passed up numerous opportunities to go after Donald Trump, and allowed him to control the debate. Mr Trump was relatively poor tonight. He openly contradicted his running mate, gave a poor answer to the key question of the night – over the groping tape – and failed to connect with the town hall participants. But he was allowed to make numerous attacks with very little rebuttal, landing more punches and making a much larger impression on the proceedings. He may have done enough to pull his campaign out of freefall.
Ruth Sherlock- Hillary Clinton
It wasn’t a blowout like the last debate, but Hillary Clinton still won this. Donald Trump’s answers on policy were weak, and sometimes rambling. He managed to land some punches but they were few and far between. He missed his chance at the beginning to capitalise on placing Juanita Broaddrick and other women from Bill Clinton’s past in the audience, changing the conversation from that to Mrs Clinton’s emails. His biggest flaw however was in body language. Whilst Mrs Clinton thought through every expression and move, he looked lost and, as my colleague Harriet Alexander noted, spent a lot of time lurking. He needed a strong performance to save his ailing campaign. It’s not clear that tonight he achieved that.
Barney Henderson- Donald Trump
Mr Trump had to steamroller Mrs Clinton to undo the damage of Friday’s lewd video. He didn’t do that last night, not even close – but he was surprisingly effective. Many thought the Republican would implode – and there were moments where he threatened to. He wobbled in the first 20 minutes that were dominated by the video, but managed to find some discipline. The preparation he has been doing clearly showed. Mrs Clinton, on the other hand, had a fairly flat night – but it is still, overwhelmingly, hers to lose.
Harriet Alexander- Hillary Clinton
It was a nasty, mud slinging, bad tempered debate – as predicted. But in the end Hillary Clinton’s experience, poise and preparation made her the winner. She fully expected every one of the rocks Mr Trump lobbed at her, and had ready answers. At times her response – “that’s a lie; check my website” – came across as glib. But on balance she was wise not to spend the night fact checking every one of his outlandish statements. On her emails, she repeated the steady apology and denial of negligence; on foreign policy, she showed off her years of experience with detailed, succinct plans for Syria. And she excoriated him for his words about women, Muslims, immigrants, disabled people, POWs and Latinos. “That’s why my campaign slogan is Stronger Together,” she said.
David Millward- Donald Trump
Donald Trump was surprisingly good on detail. When he stuck to policy he was fine – even though there is a rather awkward gap opening up with Mike Pence on Syria. But stalking around the stage like a grouchy bear, picking fights with the moderators and hurling abuse at the Clintons did him no favours. Given that he avoided a complete meltdown which some Republicans feared will be seen as a victory in itself. As for Mrs Clinton, she was calm to the point of being smug – a trait she showed in some of the primary debates. Smiling beatifically at the camera can eventually grate. The biggest threat to her winning the election is her own complacency.
Nick Allen- Hillary Clinton
Hillary Clinton will never step into a more dangerous bear pit than she did tonight. Donald Trump was wounded and ready to lash out with everything he had. Sitting in the front row were four women who have accused her husband of sex offences. Despite all that she kept her composure. When Mr Trump hit her with his biggest shots, like accusing her of having “hate in her heart”, she didn’t take the bait. She remembered the names of questioners. Mr Trump didn’t. It wasn’t a clear win but if being presidential is showing you can remain calm in the eye of a storm then Mrs Clinton did that.
Chiara Palazzo- Hillary Clinton
Considering the storm Donald Trump’s campaign has been dealing with over the weekend, he has done rather well. Mr Trump has not exploded like expected and it felt like Hillary Clinton failed to put the nail in the coffin. Mr Trump disowned his running mate and his views on the crucial topic of Syria but did manage to score some points on the email scandal. Mrs Clinton did not appear to connect to the audience as well as her rival, but overall is still on top in this election.
Telegraph UK