Laughable. Unbelievable. Frustrating. That’s how I would describe Monday’s presidential debate – the first of three.
Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump faced off for the first time in a one-on-one debate that was moderated by NBC’s Lester Holt.
I rushed home from my evening class to watch the debate, excited and curious about what would happen and how they would approach the questions.
I had read something earlier in the day that stated that Clinton prepared extensively by participating in mock debates and that Trump prepared by watching videos of Clinton’s previous debates.
Trump was clearly unprepared for the debate – and it showed. Instead of answering the questions in a clear and concise manner, he dodged questions and went on tangents about irrelevant topics.
In my opinion, Trump has no idea how to formally debate. Trump consistently went over time and interrupted the moderator.
Trump had nothing fresh to say – everything that he was talking about he had already said before in some way, shape or form. Every other thing out of his mouth was a lie.
According to multiple sources such as CNN, Trump spoke for approximately 48 minutes out of the 90-minute debate and told at least 58 lies in that time.
What frustrated me the most, though, was that Trump kept talking over Clinton – Trump is a “manterrupter.”
If he didn’t agree with what she was saying, he would interject. To anyone who has ever heard Trump speak, they know that his tactics include shouting, talking over, bulldozing and mansplaining.
Trump is practicing what you would call subtle sexism – it’s not readily apparent and it’s not necessarily malicious. It’s an implicit bias that a lot of people don’t even realize is there and it’s a big problem in our society.
Trump is a proven misogynist – he has been quoted many times saying disparaging things about women.
In the debate, Clinton brought up the point that he called Alicia Machado, who won Miss Universe in 1996, “Miss Piggy” because of her 12-pound weight gain and “Miss Housekeeping” because she was Latina.
These claims were proven true by Huffington Post, but that didn’t stop Trump from blatantly denying them.
He is notorious for objectifying women’s bodies, their roles in society and their roles in the workforce.
As a young woman who is just beginning her adult life, I can’t imagine why women would vote for him.
I think it’s clear who won the debate and who is fit to be president. Let me give you a hint – it’s not Trump.

SAMANTHA GRISWOLD
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