Photo courtesy of cbsnews.com.
As anyone who watched the presidential debate on September 27th can attest, the debate was packed with topics that had the two candidates, Hillary Clinton (D) and Donald Trump (R) at loggerheads. The two candidates faced a number of questions about their policies and plans for the United States, among which were trade deals, jobs, the economy, and social equality. The candidates took the stage at Hofstra University in New York with Lester Holt moderating.
Here’s the nutshell, summarized version of some of the candidate’s remarks and where they stand on these issues.
JOBS:
The debate started with asking the candidates about jobs and how they intended to create more jobs for American workers.
Clinton stated that she believed she could create jobs in the manufacturing, renewable energy, technology fields, as well as by supporting small businesses. She also wants to raise the minumum wage and close the age gap between men and women. In order to do this, she would raise taxes on the wealthy.
Trump argued that jobs were fleeing the country and that his strategy is to bring those jobs back. He believes that many jobs are relocating to Mexico and China, and that by lowering taxes he will be able to bring these jobs back to the United States and prevent them from leaving in the first place.
SOCIAL EQUALITY/RACIAL TENSION/GUN CONTROL:
Clinton stated that she would like to see a renewal of trust between police and the communities in which they work. She plans to implement this trust by ensuring that police forces get proper training and by bringing police and communities together with a common goal of reforming the justice system. Clinton also stated that she would like to reduce gun violence by making sure that people who shouldn’t have guns don’t get them.
Trump said that he would implement law and order to heal the racial divide in America, and that he would like to see stop-and-frisk be used again as it was in New York. He also said that he wants to take guns out of the hands of people who shouldn’t have them and that he’d like to have more police, as well as creating better community relations.
SECURING AMERICA:
Clinton said that cyber threats were a major issue to her, and that she intends to make sure that the countries posing threats to the United States know that this country has the tools to combat their attempts to hack into public sector and private sector information. Clinton said that she has a plan to go after ISIS online and prevent them from recruiting over the internet. She also would like to raise the airstrikes against ISIS and support our allies in the Middle East.
Trump stated that he believes that the country has to do a better job at protecting itself and preventing cyber attacks. Trump criticized trade deals such as the Iran Deal and NATO; he did, however, state that he believes that the United States needs to get NATO to work together and go after ISIS in the Middle East. He also stated that he would like to see countries that the US supports militarily pay their dues.
For a fact-checked transcript of the debate from NPR, please click here.