Second Debate

Donald+Trump+and+and+Hillary+Clinton+on+stage+during+the+second+debate+between+the+Republican+and+Democratic+presidential+candidates+on+Sunday%2C+Oct.+9%2C+2016+at+Washington+University+in+St.+Louis%2C+Mo.+%28Christian+Gooden%2FSt.+Louis+Post-Dispatch%2FTNS%29

TNS

Donald Trump and and Hillary Clinton on stage during the second debate between the Republican and Democratic presidential candidates on Sunday, Oct. 9, 2016 at Washington University in St. Louis, Mo. (Christian Gooden/St. Louis Post-Dispatch/TNS)

As Election Day nears, the intensity of the campaign only seems to be increasing. With footage of Donald Trump saying controversial statements about women and Hillary Clinton’s bank speeches being leaked by Wikileaks in the same week, both candidates had plenty of ammunition to fire at each other.

Hillary opened by condemning Trump’s comments about women that surfaced on Oct. 7.

What we all saw and heard on Friday was Donald talking about women, what he thinks about women, what he does to women,” Hillary Clinton said. “And he has said that the video doesn’t represent who he is. But I think it’s clear to anyone who heard it that it represents exactly who he is,”

Trump tried to defend his comments- a theme that echoed throughout the night.

“This was locker room talk,” Donald Trump said. “I’m not proud of it. I apologized to my family and I apologized to the American people. Certainly I’m not proud of it. But this is locker room talk.”

Clinton was not without her controversies. Many were anxious to hear what her answer would be to the speech she made to a Wall Street bank.

“Politics is like sausage being made,” Clinton said. “It is unsavory, and it always has been that way, but we usually end up where we need to be…So, you need both a public and a private position.”

She later defended her comments by saying she was channeling Abraham Lincoln.

It was principled, and it was strategic,” Clinton said. “And I was making the point that it is hard sometimes to get the Congress to do what you want to do. And you have to keep working at it.”

To the average viewer, the victor was indiscernible. Both candidates performed well.

“Trump was a lot more composed and collected than the last debate compared to Hillary and had very good ideas in some regards,” senior Trevor Timmerman said. “I found that Hillary’s ideas made more sense in terms of how it will work.”