Sunday, October 9th, bore witness to the second Presidential Debate of the 2016 election cycle. The debate took place in St. Louis, Missouri-the state has leaned sharply Republican since 2004, and Donald Trump has been leading in the polls by several points since he received the Republican nomination. The structure of the second debate mirrored that of a Town Hall meeting: questions were drawn from a select group of undecided voters as well as various social media pages.
Several days prior to this debate, a 2005 conversation between Trump and entertainer Billy Bush was leaked. In the video, Trump brags about his celebrity status and the freedoms that it allows him-he is most proud of his ability to harass and sexually assault women. He ends his vulgar speech by stating that, "When you're a star [...] you can do anything. Grab them by the p***y." This comment led to the desertion of multiple Trump endorsements, most notably by former presidential hopeful and Arizona Senator John McCain and Speaker of the House Paul Ryan. Even Trump's running mate, Governor Mike Pence, said that he could not condone or defend Trump's remarks.
Much like the first debate, much of this debate revolved more around the character of each candidate rather than the content of their answers. Hillary Clinton remained poised, discussing her policy ideas in depth, respectfully waiting her turn to answer each question, and attempting to make genuine connections with the undecided voters in the audience. Trump, on the other hand, cut both Clinton and the moderators off over thirty times in the ninety-minute debate, repeatedly complained that she was being given more time to speak, and continued to make up his own facts. As a result of his lack of tangible, political knowledge, Trump resorted to personal attacks, even going so far as to threaten to jail Secretary Clinton if he is elected President. His inability to answer questions was evident just in the first few minutes; when asked to address his 2005 comments, Trump responded that he would "knock the hell out of ISIS."
Perhaps the most frustrating aspects of Trump's candidacy is not the fact that he plays fast and loose with the truth, but that he seems to lack any comprehension of how the American political system works. Trump's most popular rhetoric is that Secretary Clinton failed to accomplish anything during her thirty years in public service, and foists his own shortcomings onto her. This could be seen, for example, when Trump discussed his tax returns. As per a recent New York Times article, it is possible that Trump avoided paying taxes for nearly twenty years by being allowed to "carry forward" his losses. While this is technically not a "loophole," it is written into the tax code in such a way that it allows individuals to avoid paying income taxes if their business reports a net loss greater than their net income. Trump, who in the previous debate claimed that not paying taxes made him "very smart," claimed that Clinton should have singlehandedly fixed the tax code during her time in office if she was aware of its flaws. This argument fails to hold water, however, because government policies are not dictated by a single individual-as Clinton pointed out, she served under a Republican President, who ultimately had the power to veto policies even if she had garnered enough support in the House and the Senate.
While Clinton has ultimately been criticized for not attacking Trump aggressively enough, her answers were infinitely more comprehensive and thorough in terms of their content. The backlash directed at Trump in the aftermath of this debate has been tremendous. Even Warren Buffett, one of the most successful investors in the world, has publicly denounced Trump after he was evoked in one of Trump's responses. Buffett stated: "I have paid federal income tax every year since 1944, when I was 13. (Though, being a slow starter, I owed only $7 in tax that year.) I have copies of all 72 of my returns and none uses a carryforward." Buffett's criticisms carry as especially potent weight to them: he has repeatedly been named among the top ten wealthiest individuals in the world, and is internationally renowned for his business prowess. For him to call into question both the ethics and success of someone like Trump, whose entire persona is built around his real estate empire, is a sharp blow.
This debate was likely Trump's last effort to turn the tides in his favor. With fewer than thirty days until the election, it seems nearly impossible at this point for Trump to take the lead: Clinton is currently pulling ahead in crucial battleground states, and that gap will most certainly grow in these final weeks. The final debate is scheduled for October 19th, but one must wonder whether or not it will make much of a difference so close to the general election.
