Dubai: More than 7,000 Gulf News readers weighed in on the hotly anticipated US presidential debate between Democrat Hillary Clinton and Republican Donald Trump, with an overwhelming majority saying Clinton won their first face-to-face clash.
For months, political experts have said the US presidential race is too close to call, but Clinton appeared to emerge a clear victor after the televised debate on Monday.
A poll for Gulf News found 78 per cent of readers thought Clinton won the debate, compared to just 22 per cent who said the same of Trump. The poll recorded 7,077 votes.
The readers’ verdict reflects a bad outcome for Trump, who needed to show he was qualified to run for president. It also indicated that Clinton may have established an advantage in the build-up to election day on November 8.
In the sharply pointed debate, the rivals went head-to-head on various issues such as taxes and race. Trump took a jab at Clinton, saying the Democrat did not “look presidential”, while Clinton hit back at him for his incendiary rhetoric and bias against women, minorities and Muslims.
Clinton also accused Trump of racism, while he attacked her political record as ineffective. There were also animated clashes, particularly when Clinton questioned Trump’s proposal to release his tax returns.
“I think there may be a couple of reasons. First, maybe he’s not as rich as he says he is. Second, maybe he’s not as charitable as he claims to be,” she said, “Or maybe he doesn’t want the American people, all of you watching tonight, to know that he’s paid nothing in federal taxes…”
“That makes me smart,” Trump retorted, “I will release my tax returns, against my lawyer’s wishes, when she releases her 33,000 e-mails that have been deleted.”
The rivals are back for two more rounds of televised debates on October 9 and October 19.
