The US presidential candidates traded heated words during the second televised debate on Sunday between the pair, held in St. Louis, Missouri.
Republican Donald Trump claimed his rival, Democrat Hillary Clinton, should be in prison over the use of her private email when she was serving as secretary of state, while Clinton claimed the tycoon's derogatory comments about women made him unfit to serve as president.
Trump was on the defense after facing a wave of criticism over the release of a 2005 videotape on Friday, on which he could be heard making lewd and sexist comments about women.
Several Republican senators condemned him while other party members withdrew their support over the offensive comments, which Trump dismissed as "locker room talk".
He said he had apologized for his comments and had "tremendous respect" for women, before pivoting to attack Clinton's husband, former US president Bill Clinton, over allegations of sexual misconduct.
Clinton took the opportunity to stress that Trump's lewd comments about women represented him accurately and questioned his fitness to serve as president.
Trump retaliated by attacking his opponent over her use of private email, eliciting cheers from the audience when he claimed she should be in prison over the scandal.
The pair clashed on issues including immigration, with Clinton saying Trump's proposal to ban Muslims entering the US went against the country's founding on religious freedom and played into the hands of terrorist organizations.
"What Donald Trump says about Muslims is used to recruit fighters because they want to create a war between us," she said.
The former Secretary of State also criticized Russia's involvement in the humanitarian crisis in Syria, saying she would support investigating the Kremlin over committing war crimes in Syria.
Clinton claimed Russian President Vladimir Putin's regime was working to influence the outcome of the US election in favor of Trump, who denied working with Moscow but said he would support the two countries joining forces to defeat the Islamic State terror group.
Trump also came under fire over his refusal to release his tax returns and he admitted he had declared a $916 million loss in 1995 to avoid paying federal income taxes.
Despite trading several insults, the pair ended the debate civilly by shaking hands, with Clinton praising Trump's children and her opponent admitting he respected her resilience.
The third and final televised debate will take place on Oct. 19 in Las Vegas, Nevada.
Source: EFE
Nenhum comentário:
Postar um comentário