Sunday night saw the second presidential debate of the 2016 election. Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton and the GOP's Donald Trump faced off in a town hall-style discussion, which featured questions from audience members and on social media, as well as from moderators Anderson Cooper and Martha Raddatz.
The evening began with no handshake:
NO HANDSHAKE pic.twitter.com/LCAUC6ksXu
— Oliver Darcy (@oliverdarcy) October 10, 2016
The first topic of discussion: a recently leaked audio recording of Trump bragging about groping women. When the tape came out on Friday, Trump brushed it off as "locker room" banter. On Sunday, he doubled down on that defense:
Three times Donald Trump defended his comments as "locker room" talk during the #debatehttps://t.co/C2kRWlTwvnhttps://t.co/IKLCoEP4iB
— CNN International (@cnni) October 10, 2016
A Muslim audience member asked a question about Islamophobia in the country, which Trump called a "shame":
"You're right about islamaphobia, and that's a shame. However, [BLATANT ISLAMAPHOBIA]"
— philko (@pkollar) October 10, 2016
He then put the onus on Muslims to "report" any suspicious activities they see, like "hatred,""problems," and "something," so naturally...
He's behind you!#MuslimsReportStuff#Debatepic.twitter.com/b9ueYfqO5b
— Shaista Aziz (@shaistaAziz) October 10, 2016
Creepy orange clowns sighted recently across the country. Some say they saw one pacing the debate stage tonight. #Muslimsreportstuff
— Zainab Chaudry (@zainabnc) October 10, 2016
"Hello, I'd like to report a dangerous racist misogynist demagogue on my TV...yes, I'll hold."#MuslimsReportStuff#Debates
— Zainab Chaudary (@chaudary_zainab) October 10, 2016
Some time during the town hall, Trump added casually that he would, if elected, direct his attorney general to prosecute Clinton:
Debate story: In shocking departure from democratic norms, Trump promises to prosecute and try to jail his oponent: https://t.co/7VYhsr4LsP
— Daniel Dale (@ddale8) October 10, 2016
When asked about their picks for the Supreme Court, Clinton signaled that she would pick a judge who would uphold Roe v. Wade...
.@hillaryclinton: "I want a Supreme Court that will stick with Roe v. Wade... and stick with marriage equality."#debate
— HuffPost Politics (@HuffPostPol) October 10, 2016
While Trump waxed poetic for Antonin Scalia, and vowed to fill the SCOTUS gap with a judge who would do him honor:
"Justice Scalia, a very good judge, died recently."
Scalia, a very bad judge, died seven months, twenty-seven days ago.#debate
— Angus Johnston (@studentactivism) October 10, 2016
Then Trump threw his own running mate Mike Pence under the bus by publicly dismissing his position on Syria:
.@realDonaldTrump: "[Mike Pence] and I haven't spoken and I disagree. I think we have to knock out ISIS."pic.twitter.com/1b92cklWLN
— POLITICO (@politico) October 10, 2016
Some people on the Internet were speculating that Pence may ask to be removed from the ticket:
Everything's fine: Mike Pence cancels N.J. Trump fundraiser scheduled for tomorrow. https://t.co/2nYvxJjkTN#Debate
— Gabe Ortíz (@TUSK81) October 10, 2016
A live shot of Mike Pence right now. pic.twitter.com/3eEkVWqILa
— Brian Tallerico (@Brian_Tallerico) October 10, 2016
While Pence himself congratulated Trump on his performance...
Congrats to my running mate @realDonaldTrump on a big debate win! Proud to stand with you as we #MAGA.
— Mike Pence (@mike_pence) October 10, 2016
And presented a united front on Monday morning:
#Breaking: Mike Pence says he never considered leaving the Donald Trump ticket https://t.co/GmebzxX9A8pic.twitter.com/WCB5B9Gaf9
— CNN Politics (@CNNPolitics) October 10, 2016
Many noted departures in debating style from the last debate:
It's weird that Clinton does not seem at all to be *trying* to rattle Trump tonight. Almost ignoring him. So different from last debate.
— Josh Barro (@jbarro) October 10, 2016
Viewers congratulated Martha Raddatz for her moderating skills, as candidates spoke over one another and over their time limits.
"No, answer the question" - @MarthaRaddatz doing her job. Pay attention other former debate moderators, past and future. #debate
— Mehdi Hasan (@mehdirhasan) October 10, 2016
But you can't please everyone, and that's okay:
Wow, @MarthaRaddatz must have decided Hillary not doing too well. Raddatz has stepped in to do the debate for her.
— Ann Coulter (@AnnCoulter) October 10, 2016
Is there much value in these tweet round-ups? Maybe not, but there is a very certain value in Twitter:
"Tweeting happens to be a modern form of communication. You can like it or you can not like it."—my new bio
— Liz Goodwin (@lizcgoodwin) October 10, 2016