In case you've been living under a rock, or have somehow managed to tune yourself out to the horror that is America's current political situation, Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton had their first head-to-head presidential debate this past Monday at Hofstra University.
It was the typical debate scene: candidates going over their time limits, audience cheers despite moderator admonishments, and awkward post-debate handshakes. But though news outlets were quick to declare the night a total victory for Hillary Clinton, her attacks on Donald Trump, or rather lack thereof, left me markedly unsatisfied. I hadn't prepared for the debate, and there were definitely some pointed, witty comments even I could have made toward the GOP nominee that Hillary Clinton ignored. Here are 3 of the most notable moments.
1. When Donald Trump claimed our infrastructure is from a third world country but bragged about not paying taxes
Trump claimed that one of America's biggest problems was that "...we have $20 trillion in debt and our country's a mess...our airports are like a third world country...we've become a third world country". And while budget overspending and updated infrastructure are very valid political concerns, Donald Trump ended up shooting himself in the foot when he said that paying nothing in federal income tax "makes me smart". Or at least, he should have, except Hillary Clinton did not question how he could believe that airports are the standard for how developed a nation is when he refuses to contribute even a small percentage of his vast apparent wealth to them. What could have been a sticking point on Trump's hypocrisy and apathy towards the working class turned into yet another rehashing of the fact that Trump will never release his tax returns.
2. When Donald Trump referenced Muslims to justify how not-racist he is
In response to questions about being sued by the Justice Department in 1973 for racially discriminatory housing practices, Trump touted his club in Palm Beach, Florida for having "no discrimination against African-Americans, against Muslims, against anybody," despite the area being located in a "tough community...one of the wealthiest in the world". There are many avenues Hillary Clinton could have taken to point out the ridiculousness of Trump's statement. Should he be applauded and win the presidency for simply showing other humans basic decency? Are wealthy people biased against minorities, and if so, how come Donald Trump isn't? Does his club have policies similar to those he wants to implement for the nation, and if so, does he not consider them discriminatory? Alas, none of these sorts of responses were to be found coming from the former Secretary of State, and the only time she referenced Muslims was later on when referring to ally nations in the fight against terrorism. Oh well Muslim Americans, maybe she'll acknowledge you some other time.
3. When Donald Trump spent more than 2 minutes equating African Americans with criminals and gangsters after being asked how to heal racial divisions in America
I don't even know where to begin with this one, though to be fair, Hillary Clinton didn't exactly have a great start either; she didn't touch on how to fix any of the financial, educational, or health-related divides that often separate minority communities, and particularly African Americans, from the rest of the population. To be sure, criminal justice reform has become an essential theme of the modern progressive zeitgeist. However, Hillary Clinton would be mistaken were she to assume that such reform is a cure-all for institutional racism. And, however lacking Mrs. Clinton's response may be, it pales in response to what came out of Donald Trump. According to Mr. Trump, the way to heal racial divides in America is "law and order", plain and simple. Though for a brief second, I had hoped that Mr. Trump was referring to the riveting show starring Mariska Hargitay, it soon became apparent that he believed more stop and frisk was what was necessary in order to get different ethnic groups to get along. To Donald Trump, black people and white people will start singing "Kumbaya" when there are so many police around that a black person never shoots another black person again. Hillary Clinton easily could have asked Trump to explain his reasoning, or lack thereof. She also could have castigated him for making such broad generalizations about entire groups of people, rather than simply implying "black communities have good parts too". But unfortunately none of this was done. And what could have been a productive, or at least enlightening, discussion on how to eliminate institutional racism in America turned into a conversation much more narrow in scope.
Hillary Clinton may have "won" the debate, but it's also clear she was holding back the punches. Why? I believe that she's currently focusing on making herself appear as the cool and calm alternative to the GOP temper tantrum that is Donald Trump. But that also means taking a stance much less progressive than many Democrats, who are still not totally "with her" would have liked. Ultimately, we'll have to wait until the next debate to hopefully see an uninhibited Hillary.
