Monday night at 8 p.m., candidates Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump shared the stage for the first time. Polls between Trump and Hillary have been close, but during the first debate Clinton was a more polished speaker. Trump, however, maintained his composure in a way that is almost uncharacteristic. As expected, there was a lot of name calling from both parties during the debate.
Lester Holt, anchor for NBC Nightly News, kicked off the debate by saying it would be broken up into six segments over the course of 90 minutes. There would be three topics discussed which included achieving prosperity, America’s direction and securing America. However, the topic discussed in this Bobcat Press will be limited to the first portion of the debate, achieving prosperity.
“Nearly half of Americans are living paycheck to paycheck,” said Holt. He asked Clinton what she planned to do in order to break the cycle. Clinton responded, “First we have to build an economy that works for everyone, not just those at the top.” Clinton explained that by profit sharing, having employers pay for family leave and debt free college she would establish a new system. She plans to do this by taxing the wealthy and closing corporate loop holes.
When Holt presented Trump with the same question he responded quite differently by saying, “Our jobs are fleeing the country. Reducing business tax from 35% to 15% will be a huge job creator.” He continued by saying that the companies established in the U.S. that moved to foreign countries in order to get cheaper labor would have to pay taxes to import goods. Essentially, the tax to import would be a persuader for companies to remain in the U.S. rather that moving to foreign soil. “We need a tax system that rewards work,” stated Clinton. Trump responded, pointing out that the United States’ trade deals are set up to where we sell into another country we pay tax but they do not when they sell into us. “Politicians should have taken action a long time ago and not have waited for a movement,” said Trump.
As the debate continued, Trump made the comment that the national debt has accumulated over a 230-year period and Obama doubled it in as little as eight years. “Hillary, you have been doing this for 30 years, why are you just now having solutions?” Clinton defended herself by saying that she has not always known of a solution, but has been trying to think of one for a long time. Things escalated when Holt asked about why Trump had not released his tax returns. “I have no problem releasing my tax returns, I’m under a routine audit and when they finish I will release them,” responded Trump. Holt didn’t seem satisfied with the answer and Clinton made the remark that the American people need to know who he owes money before he ever gets close to the White House.
The next few comments were the most heated and personal. “When you release your 33,000 deleted emails I will release my tax returns,” Trump stated. The audience gave their first round of applause and Holt had to remind them that they had agreed to be entirely silent during the debate. “Well Lester, I think we have just seen a perfect example of bait and switch,” Clinton said. The debate continued to address plans to fight ISIS, what would be done with taxes, how to handle foreign policy and more. To listen to the rest, go to CNN.com, type in ‘The Sept. 26, 2016 presidential debate,’ and catch Clinton and Trump’s next two debates in October before votes are cast November 4.