Clinton left standing after first bout with Trump

Democratic nominee, Hillary Clinton, came out swinging Monday night against Republican presidential nominee, Donald Trump, at the first presidential debate of the 2016 election cycle.
Held at Hofstra College in Hempstead, New York, the 90-minute debate was the first of three that will happen over the course of the next two months, until the general election is held in November.
Moderated by NBC nightly news anchor, Lester Holt, the debate covered topics such as national security, police violence, and global warming.
Almost immediately, Clinton trounced Trump for his refusal to release his tax returns, something every presidential candidate has done since the 1970s.
“For 40 years everyone running for president has released their tax returns,” said Clinton, “So you’ve got to ask yourself, why won’t he release his tax returns?” Clinton questioned.
Adding that much of Trump’s refusal may be because he has paid nothing in federal income taxes, a position Trump called “smart”.
Trump also added that he was under a federal audit and at the behest of his lawyers, has chosen not to release his returns yet.
One of the more heated moments of the debate came early when Clinton accused Trump of calling climate change a hoax perpetrated by the Chinese.
“I think it’s real,” Clinton said of climate change.
Clinton’s comment seemed to catch Trump off guard as he repeatedly denied the allegations.
“I did not,” repeated Trump. “I did not, I did not say that,” Trump finished.
The non-partisan group, Politifact, which graded the candidate’s assertions on a scale from truth to lie, said that Clinton’s accusation was in fact true.
Not long after, a photo circulated amongst social media of a 2014 tweet in which Donald Trump accused China of global warming.
Though Clinton sailed above Trump for most of the debate it was when Holt asked about the shootings of unarmed black men that have divided America, that both candidates seemed to stumble.
Clinton touted her position on criminal justice reform and better policing and training as a way to heal the divide.
“We’ve got to do several things at the same time,” said Clinton,“ First we have to restore trust between communities and police.”
Clinton went on to add that gun violence and racial profiling are motivating factors in tearing communities affected by police shootings apart.
“We have to work with the police, we have to make sure they respect the communities and the communities respect them,” Clinton finished.
Supporters of Clinton expected she would come out more forceful when speaking about police brutality, a central tenant of her campaign.
When asked the same question Trump touted his position as a law and order candidate, garnering some applause from supporters in the crowd.
“We need law and order,” said Trump. “If we don’t have it, we’re not going to have a country.”
Trump also spoke of his endorsements from the Fraternal Order of Police and, “almost every other police group”.
Halfway through the debate, viewers got some comedic relief as many began to wonder where Holt had gone as the two candidates went back and forth on stage.
Holt was notably silent much of the program as the candidates frequently went over their allotted times and argued back and forth.
In response to Holt’s silence, Twitter users created a hash tag asking #WhereIsLester.
Twitter also compiled data of the presidential debate ranking it, “the most watched debate ever,” exceeding the 10.3 million tweets sent during 2012’s first presidential debate.
According to Nielsen, the debate averaged more than 84 million viewers, the most watched debate in American history.