Presidential nominees have last debate

Wednesday brought the last major televised debate before America chooses who will be its next president.

Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump had already had two very heated debates, and this one was no different. As said early on, the candidates are very much split on nearly all major issues facing our country today. One of the first questions asked was about abortion. Hillary Clinton spoke very strongly that the government has no right to infringe on a women’s right to abortion, while Trump showed his displeasure of abortion, saying “Based on what she is saying, you can rip the baby out of the womb in the ninth month, on the final day, and that’s not acceptable.”

The next major topic was immigration. Trump reinforced his plan to build a new border wall while also mentioning the need to stop drug trafficking from Mexico. He called the idea of giving amnesty to all illegal, or undocumented, immigrants a “disaster.” He referred to his plan to deport such people, saying, “We have some bad people in this country that have to go out.”

Clinton responded with, “I don’t want to rip families apart,” and spoke about the necessity to keep families together.

The topic of WikiLeaks and the United States’ relationship with Russia also arose in the debate. Clinton accused the Russian government of engaging in “espionage,” saying that it has hacked websites, personal accounts, and institutions, and given that information to WikiLeaks for the purpose of putting it online. She said Russian President Vladimir Putin himself was involved in the leaks. She then called for Trump to “reject Russian espionage.” In response, Trump claimed not to know Putin personally, but added, “If we got along well, that would be good.”

Sexual misconduct claims against Trump emerged, as in the previous debate. He claimed not to know his reported victims, saying “I didn’t do anything, I don’t know these women, I’ve never seen these women.” He gave two theories as to why these claims arose in the first place: one being that the accusers want fame, another being that Hillary’s campaign set them up in an attempt to ruin Trump’s public image.

In closing, Clinton directed her comments to everyone watching, saying, “I’m reaching out to all Americans: Democrats, Republicans, and independents,” declaring that she has make the cause of helping children and families “my life’s work.” She said as president, she would stand up for families, and against powerful interests, and corporations.

Trump responded with his message of “Make America Great Again,” and spoke more about the current priorities of America being wrong and how he hopes to change them.

Advocate Staff