A viewing party for the first US presidential debate between Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump is held at the Water's Edge Event Centre in Windsor on September 26, 2016. (Photo by Ricardo Veneza)A viewing party for the first US presidential debate between Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump is held at the Water's Edge Event Centre in Windsor on September 26, 2016. (Photo by Ricardo Veneza)
Windsor

Clinton, Trump Square off in 2nd Debate

There was no shortage of issues discussed or mud slinging between the two major candidates in the U.S. presidential election Sunday night.

Former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and billionaire businessman Donald Trump faced off in their second debate of the campaign, at Washington University in St. Louis.  It was a town hall format, where people were able to ask questions of the candidates either in person or online.  CNN's Anderson Cooper and ABC's Martha Raddatz served as moderators.  The two candidates used hand-held microphones to answer questions and had free reign of the stage, rather than standing behind podiums as in the first debate.

It did not take long for the conversation to turn to the release of a 2005 tape which recorded Trump making demeaning remarks about women.  The issue came up after a question was asked concerning how the campaign changed Trump as a person.  Trump quickly apologized again but then tried to turn the attention to the extra-marital affairs of Clinton's husband, former president Bill Clinton.

Trump also brought up the investigation concerning deleted emails involving Clinton while serving as Secretary of State, saying that if elected he would appoint a special prosecutor to investigate Clinton.  Clinton responded by saying the charge was false, which brought murmurs from the audience.

Healthcare was another key issue brought up during the debate.  Clinton praised the advances made in healthcare under President Barack Obama's Affordable Care Act, which helped open up health insurance to Americans unable to afford it and dropped pre-existing conditions as a reason for denying coverage.  Trump called the act a "disaster" and accused Clinton of wanting a single-pay system like Canada's, a system Trump criticized as "slow".

Islamophobia, energy and other topics were also brought up, though the final question asked may have defined the event.  An audience member challenged the candidates to find something they respect about each other, which brought applause.  Clinton praised Trump's children while Trump said he admired Clinton's perseverance.

Like the previous debate, this one was characterized with the candidates talking over each other and both often taking more time than allowed to answer questions.  Both were scolded by Cooper and Raddatz concerning the debate rules periodically during the debate.

The third and final debate will take place Oct 19 at UNLV in Las Vegas.

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