Hilary Clinton and Donald Trump take to their first debate

By Jayce Parrish

This week in the 2016 Presidential Election,

The first 2016 Presidential Debate occurred Monday night, Sept. 26. Hillary Clinton, the Democratic candidate, and Donald Trump, the Republican candidate, faced off against one in another in one of the largest Presidential Debates the country has ever seen with more than 80 million viewers.

From 7-8:45 the NBC moderator, Lester Holt, attempted to ask all of the questions he had intended for the candidates. Because the candidates overreached the set time limits, Holt said he did not get to ask several questions but this was to be expected in any debate.

The three main topics were “America’s Direction,” “Achieving Prosperity,” and “Securing America.” The debate was formatted for two segments under each of the three main topics. Each segment was planned for fifteen minutes each, totaling to an hour and a half of debate.

Who won: According to the CNN poll, Clinton was deemed the winner of Monday night’s debate with 62% of viewers voting for her and 27% for Trump. NBC analysts said one of the largest factors for the win was the fact that Trump was less prepared than Clinton.

The economy: Trump emphasized his plans to boost the economy by lowering taxes on the wealthy and businesses in order to stop companies from leaving and encourage companies back to the U.S.Clinton outlined her plans to increase taxes for the wealthy to benefit the middle and lower class. At one point in the debate, after Trump accused Clinton multiple times, she said, “I have a feeling that by the end of this evening, I’m going to be blamed for everything that’s ever happened.” Trump responded with, “Why not?”

Tax returns: Holt raised the question of why Trump will not give up his tax returns. Clinton accused Trump of hiding something and not paying federal taxes. Trump remarked that he would give up his tax returns when Clinton gives up her 33,000 deleted emails.

ISIS: Trump made remarks that the main income of ISIS is oil, and that if 10,000 troops were left in the Middle East then ISIS would already be stopped. Clinton fired back by mentioning NATO (North American Treaty Organization) which is one of the world’s longest lasting military alliances. Some countries in NATO include Canada, France, Belgium, and the United States. According to Clinton these allies of the United States are her best resource for defeating ISIS.

Stay tuned for the first Vice Presidential Debate planned to be next week on Oct. 4 at Longwood University in Virginia. Donald Trump will be at the Budweiser Event Center Oct. 3 at 6:00 p.m. in Loveland, Colorado.