Democrat Hillary Clinton sought on September 27 to keep Republican rival Donald Trump on the defensive a day after their first US presidential debate with accusations he is a sexist, racist and tax dodger, while Trump suggested he would "hit her harder" by bringing up her husband's infidelity.
U.S Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton talks to reporters on her campaign plane in White Plains, New York, United States September 27, 2016. REUTERS/Brian Snyder
While the New York real estate mogul found himself in another controversy over his fresh insults about the weight of a former beauty pageant winner, Clinton tried to keep up the momentum after her forceful debate performance.
She told reporters that during the debate, Trump "was making charges and claims that were demonstrably untrue, offering opinions that I think a lot of people would find offensive and off-putting."
For his part, Trump, speaking at a rally in the battleground state of Florida on September 27, said of the debate, "On issue after issue, Secretary Clinton defended the terrible status quo – while I laid out our plan to bring jobs, security and prosperity back to the American people."
September 26 night's face-off between Clinton, with decades of experience in public life, and Trump, famous as a television personality but running for office for the first time, attracted a record audience for a U.S. presidential debate.
Nielsen data showed 84 million people watched the debate on U.S. television, topping the 80.6 million viewers for the Jimmy Carter-Ronald Reagan TV presidential debate in 1980.
Trump praised himself for not attacking Clinton during the debate about the marital infidelity of her husband, former President Bill Clinton, but said he may take up the attack line going forward. There are two more debates scheduled, on Oct. 9 in St. Louis and Oct. 19 in Las Vegas, ahead of the Nov. 8 election.
"I may hit her harder in certain ways. I really eased up because I didn't want to hurt anybody's feelings," Trump said in an interview on the Fox News program "Fox & Friends."
He added that when Clinton criticized him for his treatment of women, he held back, saying: "I was going to hit her with her husband's women. And I decided I shouldn't do it because her daughter was in the room."
Clinton brushed off Trump's vow, saying, "He can run his campaign however he chooses." She added that "the real point is about temperament and fitness and qualification to hold the most important, hardest job in the world."
Trump himself was still married to his first wife, Ivana Trump, when he had a high-profile affair with Marla Maples, who became his second wife.
He eventually divorced Maples and married his third and current wife, Melania Trump.
In the interview with Fox News, Trump sought to deflect criticism of his debate performance, saying the debate moderator, Lester Holt of NBC News, asked him "very unfair questions" and that he was given a "very bad" microphone.
"I don't want to believe in conspiracy theories, of course, but it was much lower than hers and it was crackling," Trump said of the microphone.
Clinton, speaking to reporters on her campaign plane, said "Anyone who complains about the microphone is not having a good night."
Reuters
