U.S. Presidential nominees Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump faced off Monday night in the first debate, and there was no shortage of quips that drew either applause — or gasps.
Clinton, the democratic nominee, and Trump, the republican nominee, sparred back and forth for 90 minutes at Hofstra University in Hempstead, New York on many issues including climate change, NAFTA, Trump’s tax returns and the war in Iraq. But it was the personal jabs that seemed to garner audience reaction at the debate and on social media.
When Trump got in a dig about Clinton’s absence from the campaign trail, she said there was nothing wrong with spending time preparing for the debate.
Although Trump seemed to have a case of the sniffles Monday night, he did promise to release his tax returns as long as Clinton does the same with her missing “33,000” emails.
Clinton took responsibility for using a private email server as Obama’s secretary of state and gave Trump nowhere to go.
Despite her past statements in which she changed her story from previous iterations or left wiggle room by not being completely accurate, on Monday she avoided getting wrapped up in a lengthy exchange over one of her biggest liabilities.
Trump promised to cut taxes during the debate, warning Clinton would do the opposite if she becomes president.
But Clinton blasted Trump’s plan to lower taxes for the wealthy, calling his plan “Trumped-up trickle-down” economics.
Trump repeatedly underscored his role as a political outsider, questioning the economic stewardship of President Barack Obama and the administration of former President Bill Clinton, who sat in the front row.
Describing the loss of manufacturing jobs in states like Michigan and Ohio, Trump said Clinton had been in government for 30 years, asking, “Why are you just thinking about these solutions right now?” When the discussion turned to foreign policy, Trump said Obama and Clinton failed to confront the Islamic State group, saying his opponent was there when it was “an infant.”
Speaking of ISIS, Trump said Hillary Clinton has been fighting ISIS “her whole adult life.”
For all of the best quips from Monday night’s debate, take a look through our video roundup below.
With files from the Associated Press.