CONNOR HOFFMAN
Managing Editor
A few nights ago saw the final presidential debate, and thank God that this debate was the last one. Like the other two presidential debates, this one focused on the candidates’ controversies rather than the policies they want to implement.
One huge lesson we learned last night is that Donald Trump’s campaign is done, and that this is basically Hillary Clinton’s election at this point. It’s obvious that Trump has given up, and that he is simply trying to cash in on this election.
Also, Trump basically refused to answer several questions, or pivoted to something completely unrelated multiple times throughout the night.
Trump refused to respond multiple times when the moderator Chris Wallace asked him if he wanted to overturn Roe v. Wade.
In his first response, he said, “Well, if that would happen, because I am pro-life and I will be appointing pro-life judges, I would think that would go back to the individual states.” Wallace then asked the same question again to try and clarify the record, and Trump gave basically the same answer. Wallace then asked Trump the same question for a third time, and according to Trump, he thinks that if he appointed at least two new pro-life justices that Roe v. Wade would be automatically overturned.
Trump also flopped on several times he could have really attacked Clinton’s record. Wallace, not Trump, got in perhaps the most damaging remark to Clinton when he asked her a question on a leaked speech she gave to a Brazilian bank.
“Secretary Clinton, I want to clear up your position on this issue because in a speech you gave to a Brazilian bank for which you were paid $225,000, we’ve learned from Wikileaks, that you said this. And I want to quote. ‘My dream is a hemispheric common market with open trade and border,’” asked Wallace.
Clinton tried to provide an answer to this question, but she couldn’t, and instead she spent more than half of her time pivoting to attacking Trump’s coziness with Putin.
Trump bought right into Clinton’s traps again, and he really took her bait when she accused him of being too close to Putin. He spent at least ten minutes trying to explain how he wasn’t a friend with Putin, and his defenses didn’t really do him much justice.
As expected, Clinton manipulated the truth multiple times throughout the night, gave awful focus group-tested answers and of course endlessly pandered. She couldn’t even explain how the State Department, during her time as secretary of state, lost six million dollars.
She was pressed on her flip-flopping on free trade agreements, and she gave her same old line that the TPP didn’t meet her standards, but that’s not what the record tells us.
Also, Clinton tried to pander to second amendment supporters, but we all know Clinton is in favor of more gun regulations.
On a side note, I think if I had seen the signature Clinton smirk one more time I may have vomited.
In my opinion, this debate was actually the best-moderated debate, despite its lack of any substantive policy discussion. At the first, second and vice-presidential debate we had to deal with an entire night of the candidates interrupting each other, but Wallace was ready to keep the candidates in check the entire night. He did a fantastic job of asking a balanced amount of hardball questions to both candidates, and of stopping them from interrupting the other.
The debate probably ended on its worst note yet, when Trump refused to say if he would accept the results of the election. I don’t know how I can survive four years of either of these candidates — 2020 can’t come soon enough.