Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton’s third and final presidential debate quickly fell into a match of insults and jabs, with the two candidates recalling the scandals of their opponents. Get a taste of the debates as they happened in Sin City.
Just 10 days since their last confrontation in a town-hall format, Clinton and Trump returned to the format of their first debate on Wednesday night.
The debate lasted over 90 minutes without a break, and was moderated by Chris Wallace of Fox News. It was presented by the Commission on Presidential Debates, and was hosted at the University of Nevada at Las Vegas.
20 October 2016
To end the debate, each candidate was asked by moderator Chris Wallace to give an unprepared one-minute closing statement.
Trump reiterated his campaign’s slogan “Make America Great Again,” before diving into his top issues.
“We take care of illegal immigrants,” he said, “better than we take care of our vets.”
“That can't happen,” the businessman added.
Trump then moved on to his appeals to traditionally Democratic-voting minority communities.
“Our inner-cities are a disaster,” he said, promising to fix them. “They get shot walking to the store. They have no education, they have no jobs.”
Trump accused Clinton of talking to African-Americans and Latinos only long enough to get their votes, and said she would turn her back on them once elected. He concluded that a Clinton victory would mean four more years of Obama-style leadership.
In her closing statement, Clinton says she is “reaching out to all Americans, Democrats, Republicans, and Independents, because we need everybody to help make our country what it should be...we need your talents, your skills, your commitment, your energy, your ambition.”
She continues to say that she has been “privileged to see the presidency up close and I know the awesome responsibility of protecting our country...
I will stand up for families against powerful interests, corporations. I will do everything I can to see that you have good jobs with rising incomes.
I hope you will give me the chance to serve as your president.”
"When I hear Donald talk like that and know his slogan is 'Make America Great Again,' I wonder when he thought America was great," Clinton said.
"I think its important to recognize he has been criticizing our government for decades," she said, referencing a $100,000 ad in the New York Times during the Reagan presidency in 1987, in which he "basically said we were the laughing stock of the world."
She went on to say: "When I talk about how we're going to pay for education, how we're going to invest in infrastructure, get the cost of prescription drugs down, I've made it very clear we're going to where the money is - we're going to ask the wealthy and corporations to pay their fair share."
The last set of questions is about national debt.
"We're not going to let our companies be raided by other countries," Trump said. "I'm going to create the kind of country that we were, from the standpoint of industry."
"We have the greatest business people in the world, we have to use them to negotiate our trade deals."
"Our country is outplayed, nobody can believe how stupid our leadership is," Trump said.
"I think a no-fly zone could save lives and hasten the end of the conflict [in Syria]" Clinton said.
"This would not be done just on the first day, it would take a lot of negotiation and making it clear to the Russians and the Syrians that our purpose here was to provide safe zones on the ground."
"Assad is much tougher and smarter than her and Obama," Trump said.
"We're backing rebels, we don't know who the rebels are, we're giving them lots of money, lots of everything," he added.
"If Assad falls, we may end up with worse than Assad."
"John Podesta said you have terrible instincts, Bernie Sanders said you have bad judgment, I agree with them both," Trump said.
In response, Clinton said that Bernie Sanders has referred to Trump as the "most dangerous" person to run for president in modern history.
"I agree with him," she said.
The first question on international hot spots is about Mosul.
Clinton said the goal is to re-take Mosul and then move on Raqqa in Syria.
Trump responded by saying: "Mosul is so sad, we had Mosul but when she left, when she took everybody out, we lost Mosul."
"Every time Donald thinks things are not going in his direction, he claims whatever it is is rigged against him," Clinton said.
She went on to state that he said the FBI was rigged when it concluded there was no case against Clinton regarding her email scandal.
Trump "has not paid a penny in federal income tax," Clinton said.
In response, Trump said that "all of [Clinton's] donors, most of her donors, have done the same thing I did."
"And you know what she could have done, Hillary, you should have changed the law but you won't change the law because you take in so much money."
Clinton says we don't know if what Trump says it true, because he hasn't released his tax returns.
"Trump is the first candidate ever to run for president...who has not released his tax returns," she said.
"I'd be happy to compare what we do with the Trump Foundation, which took money from other people and bought a 6ft portrait of Donald...who does that? It's just astonishing," Clinton said in response to attacks on her foundation.
"Why don't you give back the money? I think it would be a great gesture," Trump said to Clinton, regarding money which she received from Saudi Arabia.
“I am happy, in fact I am thrilled to talk about the Clinton Foundation because it's a world-renowned charity, and I’m so proud of the work that it does,” Clinton said.
"Nobody has more respect for women than I do, nobody," Trump said, prompting mumbles from the crowd.
Trump went on to attack Clinton over destroying "emails criminally after receiving a subpoena from Congress."
"She's lied hundreds of times to the people, to Congress, and to the FBI."
"Every time Donald is pushed on something, which is obviously uncomfortable, like what these women are saying, he immediately goes to deny responsibility - and it's not just about women. He never apologizes or says he’s sorry for anything," Clinton said.
"So we know what he’s said and done to women, but he also went after a disabled reporter, mocked and mimicked him on national television."
Clinton brought up Trump’s insults towards a disabled reporter and the Khan family, as well as a judge of Mexican heritage.
“This is a pattern, a pattern of divisiveness” she said.
"She talks about violence at my rallies, and she caused the violence," Trump said.
Trump interjected by saying "give me a break" after Hillary called him out for referring to a beauty pageant contestant an "eating machine."
“Donald thinks belittling women makes him bigger. He goes after their dignity, their self worth, and I don’t think there is a woman anywhere who doesn’t know what that feels like,” Clinton said.
“So, we now know what Donald thinks and what he says and how he acts towards women, that’s who Donald is.”
“When I was in the situation room monitoring the raid that brought Osama bin Laden to justice, he was on 'Celebrity Apprentice,'” Clinton said, comparing her 30 years of public service to Trump's entertainment background.
Trump challenged Clinton, asking her why she didn't do anything to improve the economy over the last 30 years.
"The one thing you have over me is experience, but it's bad experience. For 30 years, you've been in a position to help. You talk, but you don't get anything done, Hillary. You don't."
“When I saw the final agreement for TPP, I said I was against it, it didn’t meet my test,” Clinton said, referring to the Trans-Pacific Partnership trade agreement.
“I’m against it now, I’ll be against it after the election, I’ll be against it when I’m president.”
Clinton accused Trump of “crying crocodile tears” over the state of the US economy, while making money from foreign products.
“He has given jobs to Chinese steel workers, not American steel workers,” she said.
“I am proposing we invest from the middle out and the ground up, not the top down – that is not going to work,” Clinton said in reference to her economic plan.
“What I have put forward doesn’t add a penny to the debt.”
“One of the ways you go after the debt, one of the ways you create jobs, is by investing in people,” she said in response to Trump’s point on America's growing debt.
“I do have investments in new jobs, education, skill training, and the opportunities for people to get ahead and stay ahead.”
Trump called Clinton's tax plan a disaster.
"We're going to have more free trade than we have right now, but we have horrible deals," he said. "Our jobs have fled to Mexico and other places, we're bringing our jobs back."
“I have said repeatedly throughout this campaign that I will not raise taxes on anyone making $250,000 or less,” Clinton said, responding to Trumps allegations.
Clinton said “Trump's whole plan” would be “trickle down economics on steroids.”
His plan, she said, “is to give the biggest tax breaks ever to the wealthy and to corporations.”
“When the middle class thrives, America thrives,” Clinton said in reference to the economy.
“My plan is based on growing the economy, giving middle class families many more opportunities. I want us to have the biggest jobs program since World War II.”
Clinton said it is “ironic” that Donald Trump is raising the topic of nuclear weapons, because he is “a person who has been very cavalier, even casual, about the use of nuclear weapons.”
“He’s advocated more countries getting them,” she said.
“The US has kept the peace through our alliances, Donald wants to tear up our alliances,” Clinton said.
“I would work with our allies in Asia, in Europe, in the Middle East and elsewhere.”
"These cyber attacks come from the highest levels of the Kremlin and are designed to influence our election, I find this very disturbing," Clinton said.
“It's pretty clear you won’t admit the Russians have engaged in cyber attacks against the US, that you encouraged espionage against our people, that you are willing to spout the Putin line, sign up for his wish list, break up NATO, do whatever he wants to do, and that you continue to get help from him because he has a very clear favorite in this race,” Clinton said, accusing Trump of close ties with Russia.
Trump asked Clinton why she veered off topic, talking about Russia when the question was about immigration. The debate then fell into a hot argument.
"Thats because Putin would rather have a puppet as president of the United States," Clinton said.
"You are the puppet!" Trump responds.
Clinton switched to talking about Russia when asked about open borders.
"We trade more energy with our neighbors than we trade with the rest of the world combined, and I do want us to have an electric grid, and energy system that crosses borders, I think that will be a great benefit to us.
The Russian government has engaged in espionage against Americans. They have hacked American websites, American accounts, of private people and institutions. Then they have given that information to Wikileaks....this has come from the highest levels of the Russian government, clearly from Putin himself...to influence our election.
The most important question is...will Trump admit and condemn the Russians are doing this...?"
Clinton accused the Russian government of hacking into US accounts.
"The Russian government has engaged in espionage against Americans," she said.
Clinton scolded Trump for exploiting undocumented immigrants, saying she wants to “bring them out from the shadows.”
"We will not have open borders. We will have secure borders, but we will also have reform," Clinton said.
"I had a very good meeting with the president of Mexico, very nice man. We will be doing better on trade deals, believe me," Trump said.
"Hillary Clinton wanted the wall, fought for the wall in 2006 or thereabouts...now she never gets anything done, so naturally it didn't get done."
“I think we are a nation of immigrants and laws and that we can act accordingly, and that’s why I am introducing comprehensive immigration reform within the first 100 days, with a path to citizenship,” Clinton said on immigration.
"They're coming in illegally, drugs are pouring through the border, we have no country if we don't have a border," Trump said on immigration.
"I was up in New Hampshire the other day, the biggest complaint they have, of all the problems in the world, many of them caused by Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama...is heroin [pouring into the country].
We have some bad, bad people in this country we have to get out."
On the issue of abortion, Clinton said she would “defend Planned Parenthood," as well as the right of women to make their own healthcare decisions.
Clinton said she regrets that Donald Trump has been strongly supported by the NRA, "because what I would like to see is people saying 'of course we're going to support the Second Amendment but we are going to do that in a way tries to save those 33,000 lives that we lose every year.”
Trump on overturning Roe v Wade: "If that would happen, because I am pro-life...it would send [the issue] back to the state, the states will then make a determination."
"In Chicago, which has the toughest laws in the United States, they have tremendous gun violence," Trump said.
Clinton said she “no doubt” respects the Second Amendment and believes in the individual right to bear arms.
Hillary Clinton has opened the debate, answering Chris Wallace's first question on the Supreme Court.
“I feel strong the Supreme Court needs to stand on the side of the American people, not on the side of powerful corporations and the wealthy,” she said.
Clinton has said she would stand by a nominee picked by President Obama, and hopes “the Senate would do its job" and confirm the nominee that Obama has sent to them.
"We need a Supreme Court that will uphold the Second Amendment, and all amendments," Trump said. "The Second Amendment is under siege"
Trump's official Facebook account went live 30 minutes before the debate began. While the businessman has not yet made an appearance, former Arizona Governor Jan Brewer (R) and retired US Army Lieutenant General Michael T. Flynn spoke with Trump's campaign staff about what to expect tonight.
johnson and stein
Green Party candidate Jill Stein is planning to comment on the debates via Facebook Live.
Libertarian candidate is planning to live-tweet his commentary to the debate.
topics
The Commission on Presidential Debates announced Wednesday that moderator Chris Wallace had selected six topics to be covered. Those topics will be debt and entitlements, immigration, the economy, the Supreme Court, “foreign hot spots,” and “fitness to be president.”