The explosive second presidential debate rocked the United States Sunday night, but who came out on top?
Republican candidate Donald Trump squared off against his Democratic rival Hillary Clinton on issues like Syria, health care, taxes, the energy sector and — the highly anticipated — leaked video of Trump obscenely commenting about grabbing women in 2005.
While neither Donald Trump or Hillary Clinton came out unscathed, snap polls and focus groups offer a look into how much damage was done.
WATCH: Highlights of the second presidential debate
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Presidential debate: Trump says if he controlled the law Clinton would ‘be in jail’ -
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Presidential debate: Trump calls ‘slow’ Canadian healthcare ‘catastrophic’ -
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Presidential debate: Trump accuses Clinton of having ‘tremendous hate in her heart’ -
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Presidential debate: Donald Trump sniffles make a return -
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Presidential debate: Hillary Clinton says leaked video represents exactly who Donald Trump is -
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Presidential debate: Donald Trump responds to leaked tape calling it just “locker room talk” -
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Presidential debate: Clinton fails to find something respectful about Trump, says she respects his kids -
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Presidential debate: Trump admits using massive $916 million loss to avoid paying income tax -
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Presidential debate: Clinton explains ‘deplorables’ comment, claims it characterized Trump -
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Presidential debate: Trump never spoke with running mate Mike Pence over Syria, but disagrees with him -
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Presidential debate: Trump says he respects the fact Hillary doesn’t give up -
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Presidential debate: I know nothing about Russia: Trump -
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Presidential debate: Trump says Clinton blaming her lie on Abraham Lincoln -
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Presidential debate: Trump calls Clinton’s judgment ‘so bad’, unpresidential -
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Presidential debate: Donald Trump continues to deny being for the war in Iraq -
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Presidential debate: Donald Trump tells Hillary Clinton ‘I’m a gentleman’ -
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Presidential debate: Trump attacks Bill Clinton for alleged abuse to women -
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Presidential debate: Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton don’t shake hands during debate intro
YouGov Poll:
YouGov put Clinton five points above Trump, with 47 per cent of respondents saying she won the debate.
But only six per cent said the town hall style debate actually changed their minds.
Pollsters also asked if respondents thought Trump was “a gentleman,” as he claimed in the debate. 60 per cent disagreed with Trump’s claims, while 31 per cent agreed. Another nine per cent weren’t sure.
WATCH: Presidential debate: Donald Trump tells Hillary Clinton ‘I’m a gentleman’
The poll, which interviewed over 800 respondents, has a margin of error of 3.5 per cent. Full results of the poll are available here.
YouGov is an international market research firm based in the UK.
WATCH: Things got personal as Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump sparred in the second presidential debate in St. Louis. As Jackson Proskow reports, Trump may have keep his supporters on side, but it may not be enough to turn his campaign around.
CNN/ORC Poll:
CNN reported a more decisive win for Clinton. A poll by the news corporation found that 57 per cent of respondents believed Clinton won the debate, versus 34 per cent for Trump.
CNN said that while the poll shows strong favour for Clinton, it’s a less decisive victory than her first debate, when 62 per cent of respondents said she won. There was no immediate info about how many people polled or margins of error.
Focus Groups:
A focus group on Fox News showed Trump winning among undecided voters – but another on CNN showed Clinton winning, with one person vying for Trump.
READ MORE: Trump vs. Clinton: 5 things you missed from the presidential debate
Media Analysts:
- “The nicest thing you could say about Trump’s performance was that it was bonkers.” – Richard Wolffe, The Guardian UK
- “Donald Trump fought and clawed his way through his second debate with Democrat Hillary Clinton. In the process, he gave his base of die-hard supporters the performance they’ve long wanted, but offered little for the broader audience of Americans still resistant to a Trump presidency.” – Kathleen Hennessey, The Associated Press
- “Donald Trump knows he won’t be president. He’s now in full carnival-barking, network-launching, party-nuking mode” – Ron Fournier, The Atlantic
- “[Clinton] won the debate early on. In keeping her cool and indicting Trump’s bad behavior and finally provoking him to threaten to put her in jail, she made certain no one not already in Trump’s corner would sign on with him.” – Jennifer Rubin, Right Turn, a Washington Post blog
Internet:
Out of left field (and the right side of the audience) a new contender popped up in this debate; one whom the internet immediately fell in love with.
WATCH: Presidential debate questioner Kenneth Bone becomes viral sensation
Kenneth Bone, in a vibrant red sweater, stood up to ask a question about energy sources with great enthusiasm.
He quickly became a trending topic on both Twitter and Facebook, and his red sweater made it in GQ magazine by Monday morning.
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