Recapping the second presidential debate

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Julio Cortez
Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump and Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton shake hands after the second presidential debate at Washington University in St. Louis on Oct. 9, 2016. (AP Photo/Julio Cortez)

Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump faced off in the second U.S. presidential debate on Sunday, Oct. 9.

The beginning of the debate was dedicated to a tape of Trump the Washington Post published on Friday.

“You called what you said locker room banter,” said moderator Anderson Cooper. “You described kissing women without consent, grabbing their genitals — that is sexual assault. You brag that you have sexually assaulted women. Do you understand that?”

Trump claims he didn’t say that.

“Yes, I’m very embarrassed by it. I hate it. But it’s locker room talk and it’s one of those things,” Trump said.

Cooper asked whether Trump kissed or groped women without consent.

“I have great respect for women. Nobody has more respect for women than I do,” Trump said. “And women have respect for me and I will tell you no, I have not, and I will tell you that I’m going to make our country safe.”

Clinton said she has disagreed with previous Republican presidential candidates, but that she’s never “questioned their fitness to serve” as she has with Trump.

“What we all saw and heard on Friday was Donald talking about women — what he thinks about women, what he does to women, and he has said that the video doesn’t represent who he is, but I think it’s clear to anyone who heard it that it represents exactly who he is, because we’ve seen this throughout the campaign,” Clinton said.

Moderator Martha Raddatz asked Clinton if she would call her handling of classified emails “extremely careless,” as did FBI Director James Comey.

Clinton said using a personal email account was a mistake and apologized.

“But I think it’s also important to point out where there are some misleading accusations from critics and others. After a year-long investigation, there is no evidence that anyone hacked the server I was using,” Clinton said. “Anyone who says otherwise has no basis that any classified material ended up in the wrong hands.”

Trump said Clinton deleted 33,000 emails after the FBI subpoenaed her.

“You think it was fine to delete 33,000 emails? I don’t think so,” Trump said. “So we’re going to get a special prosecutor, and we’re going to look into it. Because you know what? People have been — their lives have been destroyed for doing one fifth of what you’ve done.”

An audience member asked what both candidates would do to bring down the costs and increase the coverage of the Affordable Care Act.

Clinton said she agrees that premiums, copays, deductibles and prescription costs have gotten too high.

“I want very much to save what works and what is good about the Affordable Care Act, but we have got to get costs down; we have to provide some additional help to small businesses so that they can afford to provide health insurance,” Clinton said.

Trump said the Affordable Care Act needs to be repealed.

“Obamacare is a disaster — you know it, we all know it,” Trump said. “It is a disastrous plan, and it has to be repealed and replaced.”

Another audience member asked how the candidates would help Muslim people deal with the consequences of Islamophobia.

“We can be very politically correct, but whether we like it or not there is a problem, and we have to be sure that Muslims come in and report when they see something going on; when they see hatred going on, they have report it,” Trump said. “If they don’t do that, it’s a very difficult situation for our country.”

Trump also criticized Clinton and President Barack Obama for refusing to use the label “radical Islamic terrorism.”

“To solve a problem, you have to be able to state what the problem is or at least say the name,” Trump said. “(Clinton) won’t say the name and President Obama won’t say the name, but the name is there.”

Clinton said Trump’s rhetoric about Muslims is “shortsighted and even dangerous.”

“We are not at war with Islam and it is a mistake and it plays into the hands of the terrorists to act as though we are,” Clinton said.

Raddatz asked Clinton about an excerpt of a paid speech Clinton gave that was published by WikiLeaks wherein Clinton said politicians need “both a public and a private position.”

Clinton said she was referring to how politicians use different arguments with different people in promoting their policies, such as when Abraham Lincoln was trying to pass the 13th Amendment.

Trump said Clinton was caught in a lie.

“Now she’s blaming the lie on the late great Abraham Lincoln,” Trump said. “Honest Abe never lied. That’s a big difference between Abraham Lincoln and you.”

The final question of the evening was what one positive thing each candidate respects in the other. Clinton said she respects Trump’s children.

“His children are incredibly able and devoted, and I think that says a lot about Donald,” Clinton said.

Trump said Clinton never gives up.

“She’s a fighter. I disagree with much of what she’s fighting for,” Trump said. “But she does fight hard, and she doesn’t quit, and she doesn’t give up. I consider that to be a very good trait.”

The final presidential debate will be on Wednesday, Oct. 19 at 7:00 p.m. MST.

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