From the start of Monday's pressure-filled first presidential debate, Hillary Clinton demonstrated control and a deep knowledge of the problems facing this country �" and more importantly, has a set of policies to improve the lives of ordinary Americans. She more than held her own against an at times combative Donald Trump, who didn't hesitate to interrupt her. He continued to deny he did anything wrong regarding the birther conspiracy he himself birthed, in which he continued to insist �" falsely �" that President Barack Obama was not born in the U.S. even after Obama released his birth certificate in 2011 (an insult that he even had to do it in the first place). On the issue of Trump's income taxes, Clinton also offered a couple of reasons why Trump is so reticent to release his tax information. "He's not as rich as he thinks he is," she said. "Or maybe he doesn't want you to know that he pays no taxes." That got under his skin. Trump countered by repeating his excuse that he could not release his tax returns because he's under audit by the IRS. The tax agency has said people can release their own tax information whether being audited or not. Later in the debate, however, he let it slip that not paying income tax "makes me smart," a tacit admission that in at least some years, Trump has paid no federal taxes.
Clinton was at her best when she talked about the economy and other domestic issues. She was eloquent on the subject of race in this country, noting the implicit bias that many people have, and especially the need for police and other law enforcement agencies to train their officers to counter such bias, as well as employ de-escalation techniques. And she pointed out that Trump Management was sued by the U.S Justice Department in the 1970s for discriminating against blacks in its properties. In typical Trump fashion, he countersued, and, according to a New York Times article, ultimately claimed that a consent decree he signed did not admit guilt. In contrast, Trump said he would fix race relations with "law and order," including the widely derided stop and frisk policy that was ruled unconstitutional by a New York judge. He denied that, chiding moderator Lester Holt when he was corrected.
"No, you're wrong," Trump said when Holt said stop and frisk had been declared unconstitutional.
There should be no doubt that Clinton is the superior candidate for LGBT voters. While gay issues didn't come up during the debate, viewers did get to see Trump denigrate a lesbian �" again �" as he went after comedian Rosie O'Donnell in his well-known criticism of women. He acknowledged he has said some "very tough things" about O'Donnell. "I think everybody would agree that she deserves it, and nobody feels sorry for her," he said. The feud between the two celebrities started a decade ago, when O'Donnell called Trump a "snake oil salesman." Trump has responded over the years by calling her "a loser" and making negative remarks about her body.
His misogynistic comments also targeted former Miss Universe Alicia Machado, whom he criticized for gaining weight after she was crowned. At the time, he was executive producer of the pageant and humiliated her by ordering camera crews to film her exercising. During the debate, Clinton mentioned Machado by name, quoting insults that Machado had attributed to Trump, catching him off guard. "Where did you find this?" he asked repeatedly. But by Tuesday morning he had doubled down on Machado. "She was the winner and she gained a massive amount of weight, and it was a real problem," he said in a Fox News appearance. It was reminiscent of the weeklong barrage of verbal attacks he lobbed this summer at Khizr and Ghazala Khan, whose Muslim-American son, an Army captain, was killed in Iraq. Khizr Khan had called out Trump at the Democratic convention, uttering the famous line about letting Trump borrow his copy of the Constitution.
We've seen Trump become combative when he's behind in the polls or had a poor campaign performance, so this is nothing new. What is new is that millions of Americans tuned in on Monday night, likely many for the first time. The damning split-screen didn't help him either; he constantly huffed, sniffled, grimaced, or looked agitated, while Clinton appeared poised and in control. A skillful debater, Clinton has had years of practice and used that to her advantage.
At one point, Trump accused Clinton of �" gasp �" actually preparing for the debate.
"I think Donald just criticized me for preparing for this debate," Clinton responded. "And, yes, I did. And you know what else I prepared for? I prepared for being president. And I think that's a good thing."
All of Trump's weaknesses were on full display during the debate, and that should give undecided voters pause as they consider who to cast their ballots for in 39 days. LGBT voters shouldn't be fooled by Log Cabin Republicans who argue that Trump did a good job and can therefore lead the country.
He cannot.