With the first debate between Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump breaking viewing records and producing plenty of talking points, there was little doubt that the second would also draw massive amounts of attention.
As expected, social media was dominated by talk of the debate on Sunday evening, but it started before the event itself kicked off as Trump held a press conference with a number of women who had made accusations against Bill Clinton. Many criticised the move, noting that it was a low point in a tough campaign.
My wife got promoted at work recently. Weirdly her boss didn't look into my past to decide if she could do the job.
— Farhad Manjoo (@fmanjoo) October 9, 2016
I wonder if Donald knows Bill Clinton isn't running for president.
— roxane gay (@rgay) October 10, 2016
My father would be so embarrassed by this...I ask all who loved my father to vote down ballot to save the Country and Republican Party https://t.co/Xcdmz6wpT0
— Michael Reagan (@ReaganWorld) October 10, 2016
The evening started with a number of questions for the Republican candidate on the leaked conversation from 2005, which Trump struggled to deal with. The reaction was largely critical, stating the he further normalised the comments and behaviour, and failed to realise the impact of his words.
When Trump says it's just "locker room talk," he's defending the very culture that normalizes sexual assaults on women.
— George Takei (@GeorgeTakei) October 10, 2016
Trump, Great night. U threw your VP under the bus, called assault on women banter locker room talk, & celebrated that u don't pay taxes. Wow
— Josh Gad (@joshgad) October 10, 2016
Every time Trump (& supporters) call bragging about sexual assault "locker room banter" they normalize it for all the young men watching.
— Rachel Held Evans (@rachelheldevans) October 10, 2016
At one stage, Donald Trump also suggested that, were he to win the election, he would get a special prosecutor to look into Hillary Clinton's email server and that if he were in charge, she would be in jail.
Watch: The moment Donald Trump threatened to imprison Hillary Clinton pic.twitter.com/LPa59330Dv
— Vox (@voxdotcom) October 10, 2016
Former Attorney General Eric Holder took to social media to claim that this was a promise from Trump to abuse the power of the office of the president, while others noted that the impact of the claim that he would jail his political opponents would not be fully realised until the post-mortem of the debate was complete.
Clinton won the debate by a bit, but she's going to win the aftermath by a lot as people digest Trump's promise to jail political opponents
— Ezra Klein (@ezraklein) October 10, 2016
So @realDonaldTrump will ORDER his AG to take certain actions-When Nixon tried that his AG courageously resigned. Trump is dangerous/unfit
— Eric Holder (@EricHolder) October 10, 2016
.@DanaBashCNN just rightfully compared Trump’s promise to jail Clinton to African dictatorships, Stalin and Hitler.
— Brian Beutler (@brianbeutler) October 10, 2016
Vote for me, I will use the state to punish my political enemies!
— Ezra Klein (@ezraklein) October 10, 2016
Perhaps the moment that drew the most attention was Trump's claim that Captain Humayun Khan would still be alive if he were president, which was met with a barrage of angry tweets, most notably from Clinton's Foreign Policy spokesperson, Jesse Lehrich, who tweeted his incredulity with what he later said was an "inappropriate" response.
.@realDonaldTrump: "If I were president, Captain Khan would've been alive today." pic.twitter.com/E42eqLYUPB
— POLITICO (@politico) October 10, 2016
I want to apologize for the clearly inappropriate nature and language of this personal tweet. Sorry all.
— Jesse Lehrich (@JesseLehrich) October 10, 2016
If Trump was president, Captain Khan wouldn't have been allowed in the country.
— Daniel José Older (@djolder) October 10, 2016
Khan's family also responded to the claim, stating that "Our son served this country with honour and distinction, and gave the ultimate sacrifice. The only thing Donald Trump sacrifices is the truth."
On a lighter note, there were some jokes about how both candidates interacted with each other on stage, the positions they took up as the other one talked, or how the audience was reacting in the town hall.
Make America Lurk Again. #Debate pic.twitter.com/BvoVhi545G
— The Daily Show (@TheDailyShow) October 10, 2016
So what exactly is Trump doing to that chair? Actually, don't wanna know pic.twitter.com/PMiJDP2paM
— David Nir (@DavidNir) October 10, 2016
This man is all of us. #debate pic.twitter.com/SJ0kOwdX92
— Mike Truesdale (@MikeTruesdale) October 10, 2016
The moderators were also praised for their performance, on what was a very difficult night and an ill-tempered debate.
Can Anderson Cooper follow me around to all of my meetings?
"Please let her talk, she didn't interrupt you."
— Lindsay Gibbs (@linzsports) October 10, 2016
Martha Raddatz and Anderson Cooper should just be the debate moderator house band. They are the Tina Fey/Amy Poehler of this job.
— Peter Hartlaub (@peterhartlaub) October 10, 2016
Can I vote for Martha Raddatz for something??
I'm all in.— Fred Savage (@thefredsavage) October 10, 2016
Nice to see @andersoncooper ask Hillary tough questions that other moderators wouldn’t ask. #debate
— Dana Loesch (@DLoesch) October 10, 2016
A live look at Anderson Cooper off camera #debate pic.twitter.com/1sabUTLE5Q
— Party Problems (@Partyprobs) October 10, 2016
The star of the night was, perhaps, audience member Karl Becker, whose question at the end brought the debate to a close on a high note, as he asked both candidates to state something about the other that they admired.
I'm not the Karl Becker that finished the debate tonight, but he represented Karl Beckers well. Great question!
Please don't vote for Trump
— Karl Becker (@karlbecker_com) October 10, 2016
Make #karlbecker #1 TT if you have a â¤ï¸
— KATY PERRY (@katyperry) October 10, 2016
Karl Becker is the real MVP
— Kenny Holland (@iamKennyHolland) October 10, 2016
Trump's response - that Hillary never quits - had a number of people noting that he might have just contradicted himself slightly.
Debate 1 Trump: She has no stamina
Debate 2 Trump: She doesn't quit
— David M. Perry (@Lollardfish) October 10, 2016
Whoa. "She doesn't give up. She doesn't quit."
Did. Trump. Just. Endorse. Stamina? #debate
— Chris Pirillo (@ChrisPirillo) October 10, 2016
I think he just described "stamina"
— Shani O. Hilton (@shani_o) October 10, 2016
One thing's for sure, the third debate will certainly be interesting.
