Trump “Struggl[ed] Mightily” During The Second Presidential Debate

NY Times: The Second Debate “Began With Explosive Attacks” As Trump “Struggl[ed] Mightily” The New York Times reported that the second presidential debate “began with explosive attacks” as the two “candidates savaged each other.” The article highlighted that “Trump struggl[ed] mightily for much of the evening to address questions about his finances, policy ideas and treatment of women.” From the October 9 article:

The second presidential debate between Donald J. Trump and Hillary Clinton began with explosive attacks and ended with a measure of graciousness, as the two candidates complimented each other at the request of an audience member. Mrs. Clinton said she admired the Trump children, while Mr. Trump called his opponent “a fighter.”

But the candidates savaged each other on the way to the finish, with Mr. Trump struggling mightily for much of the evening to address questions about his finances, policy ideas and treatment of women.

In several tense exchanges, Mr. Trump acknowledged that he had avoided paying federal income taxes for years, called his taped description of sexual assault “locker room-talk” and accused Mrs. Clinton of victimizing women and carrying “hate in her heart.” He also said that as president he would appoint a special prosecutor to pursue Mrs. Clinton.

In a comparatively subdued performance, Mrs. Clinton hewed close to the basic arguments of her campaign: That she is an experienced public servant and Mr. Trump is unfit to be president. Mr. Trump, she said, “owes our country an apology.” [The New York Times, 10/9/16]

Media Boosted Narrative That Trump “Stopped The Bleeding” At The Second Debate

CNN’s Jake Tapper: Trump “Staunched Some Of The Bleeding.” Despite calling Donald Trump “erratic” and “off the rails,” CNN anchor Jake Tapper claimed that Trump “staunched some of the bleeding that we’ve seen in his campaign in recent days.” Tapper described the night as “a much better debate performance than [Trump’s] first debate performance” and claimed Trump’s “supporters will be very happy.” From CNN’s post-debate coverage:

WOLF BLITZER: Donald Trump came into this debate behind in the polls and also facing a mass defection from members of his own party. Did tonight change any of that?

JAKE TAPPER: The first 20 minutes, half hour, I thought Donald Trump was erratic and going off the rails and then I thought he turned it around to a degree. I think that he prosecuted a case against Hillary Clinton that was effective and stayed with the them about she has been in Washington for a long time, it's all words, no action. And so, I thought this was a much better debate performance than his first debate performance. He may have staunched some of the bleeding that we’ve seen in his campaign in recent days. Obviously you have 16 Republican U.S. senators abandoning his bid, saying they won't vote for him and he should maybe think about quitting the ticket. So I think he did himself a favor with that regard. I think his base, his supporters will be very happy with tonight's performance. [CNN, Debate Night in America, 10/9/16]

NY Times’ Haberman: Trump “Staunched The Bleeding” With Debate Performance. New York Times political correspondent and CNN political analyst Maggie Haberman claimed Trump “certainly stabilized himself for the night” and presumed that he prevented “the leader of the Senate majority and the House speaker [from] openly disassociating from him.” She declared that “the fact that [Trump] apologized over that videotape … basically staunched the bleeding.” From the October 10 edition of CNN’s New Day:

CHRIS CUOMO (CO-HOST): The Trump camp is saying they won. They won, they won, they won. What are you hearing?

MAGGIE HABERMAN: I’m hearing exactly that. They won, they won, they won. They put out an aggressive message last night through all of their supporters, through all of their surrogates, through all of their allies saying this was his moment of victory, he reclaimed this, he set the tone, he’s back in the race. He certainly stabilized himself for the night. You are potentially seeing the leader of the Senate majority and the House speaker openly disassociating from him today if he had a really bad performance. But I think the fact that he apologized over that videotape, I think, basically staunched the bleeding. [CNN, New Day, 10/10/16]

Fox’s Tammy Bruce: Trump “Did More Than Just Stop The Bleeding.” Fox contributor Tammy Bruce claimed that Trump “did more than just stop the bleeding,” saying “he strolled out of the emergency room.” Bruce lauded Trump’s performance last night, calling it “a test of leadership” to be “under massive attack from all sides” and “be able to deal with it, adapt, change, and then be steady.” From the October 10 edition of Fox Business News’ Varney & Co.:

STUART VARNEY (HOST): Trump's job was to stop the bleeding from the videotape. Did he do it?

TAMMY BRUCE: He did. And then he strolled out of the emergency room. He did more than just stop the bleeding. Here’s what's important about last night. Even though the content was good and he got to the issues, people saw armageddon for the last 48 and they were wondering would he at least survive. He not only survived. He prevailed. This is a test of leadership. This is what the Clinton campaign gave him effectively, was showing the American people that he can be under massive attack from all sides, be able to deal with it, adapt, change and then be steady, be focused on the issues and that's a test of leadership that you can't speak about or tell people about, you have to show it, and he showed it last night. That’s the thing that resonates with everyone. Women. Independents. Undecideds. It’s leadership at a time of crisis. [Fox Business, Varney & Co, 10/10/16]

Fox’s Joe Trippi: Trump “Stopped The Bleeding.” Fox contributor and Democratic campaign consultant Joe Trippi commended Trump’s performance, stating that Trump “stopped the bleeding with his supporters.” Trippi added that he didn’t foresee “a stampede away from [Trump], following the debate performance.” From the October 10 edition of Fox News’ Fox & Friends:

STEVE DOOCY (CO-HOST): What did you think about Donald Trump last night?

KARL ROVE: He lives to fight another day. Expectations helped him. Everybody expected after the Friday barrage that he might collapse. And expectations were too high for her. They thought -- some of her supporters thought she’s gonna be able to demolish him. He came out and handled himself well last evening. They both scored points and he lives to fight another day

DOOCY: And Joe?

JOE TRIPPI:Yeah look, I think he stopped the bleeding with his supporters, I mean I don’t think you’re going to see much of a stampede away from him that had started, I think he stopped that, for the most part. [Fox News, Fox & Friends, 10/10/16]

However, Trump Had A Handful Of Low Points Throughout The Debate

Trump To Clinton: “You Would Be In Jail” If I Were In Charge Of The Country’s Laws. During the second presidential debate, Trump told Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton that she “would be in jail” if he were in charge of the country. Trump also threatened to “get a special prosecutor” to go after Clinton. From The Huffington Post’s October 9 report:

Donald Trump on Sunday threatened to appoint a special prosecutor to go after Hillary Clinton for her use of a personal email account while she was secretary of state.

“I didn’t think I’d say this but I’m going to say it, and I hate to say it, but if I win, I am going to instruct my attorney general to get a special prosecutor to look into your situation because there has never been so many lies, so much deception, there has never been anything like it and we’re going to have a special prosecutor,” Trump said during the presidential debate, referring to her emails.

[...]

“We have literally Trump, you can fact check him in real time. Last time, at the first debate, we had millions of people fact-checking. So I expect we’ll have millions more fact-checking because, you know, it is, it’s just awfully good that someone with the temperament of Donald Trump is not in charge of the law in our country,” [Clinton] said.

“Because you would be in jail,” Trump said to Clinton. [The Huffington Post, 10/9/16]

Trump Downplayed His Sexual Assault Boasts As “Locker Room” Talk. When questioned about the recent leak of a 2005 recorded conversation where Trump “seemed to boast of sexually assaulting women,” Trump downplayed the the recording and “disputed that the recording amounted to bragging about sexual assault, calling his comments ‘locker room talk.’” From an October 9 New York Times article:

Pressed on the 2005 recording which he seemed to boast of sexually assaulting women, Mr. Trump said he was “not proud of” the behavior, saying that he had apologized to his family and the American people. But he disputed that the recording amounted to bragging about sexual assault, calling his comments “locker room talk.” “I have great respect for women,” he said. “Nobody has more respect for women than I do,” he said, adding, “I was embarrassed by it.” [The New York Times, 10/9/16]

Trump Announced He Hasn’t Spoken With Mike Pence On Syria. During the discussion of Syria and ISIS, Trump revealed that he and running mate Gov. Mike Pence “haven’t spoken” on the issue, and Trump disagreed with Pence’s previous statements claiming “provocations by Russia need to be met with American strength.” Journalists across the spectrum marveled at these comments, describing them as Trump throwing Pence “under the bus.” From CNN’s coverage of the October 9 presidential debate:

MARTHA RADDATZ (MODERATOR): Let me repeat the question. If you were president, what would you do about Syria and the humanitarian crisis in Aleppo? And I want to remind you what your running mate said. He said “provocations by Russia need to be met with American strength” and that “if Russia continues to be involved in airstrikes along with the Syrian government forces of Assad, the United States of America should be prepared to use military force to strike the military targets of the Assad regime.”

DONALD TRUMP: He and I haven't spoken and I disagree.

RADDATZ: You disagree with your running mate?

TRUMP: I think you have to knock out ISIS. Right now, Syria is fighting ISIS. We have people that want to fight both at the same time. But Syria is no longer Syria. Syria is Russia and it’s Iran, which [Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton] made strong and scary and Obama made into a powerful nation and a very rich nation, very, very quickly. I believe we have to get ISIS. We have to worry about ISIS before we can get too much more involved. She had a chance to do something with Syria , they had a chance. And that was the line. [Media Matters, 10/9/16]

Trump Admitted That “Of Course” He Used The Tax Code “To Avoid Paying Taxes.” When questioned about “a massive business loss” from the 1990s and his tax returns, Trump said “of course” he used that loss “to avoid paying taxes.” When questioned, Trump said he could not “say how many years he did not pay taxes.” From an October 9 ABC News article:

Donald Trump admitted that “of course” he employed a provision of the tax code that allowed him to use a massive business loss that he claims he suffered in the 1990s to “avoid” paying taxes.

[...]

When asked if he used that loss “to avoid paying taxes,” Trump said “Of course I do, and so do all of her donors.”

“I understand the tax code better than anyone and it's complex,” Trump said.

“I pay tremendous numbers of taxes and I used it and so did Warren Buffett and George Soros and the other people,” Trump said, naming two known Democratic supporters.

When asked if he can say how many years he did not pay taxes, Trump said he could not. [ABC News, 10/9/16]

And Post-Debate Polling Showed Trump Lost The Debate

CNN Post-Debate Poll Shows A “Clear Victory” For Clinton. A CNN “national poll of all voters” found that “Hillary Clinton won the debate,” with Clinton receiving “57 percent [of the vote] to 34 percent for Donald Trump.” CNN political director David Chalian noted that while this win was “not as big of a victory” as the first debate, it is still “a clear victory.” From the October 9 CNN post-debate coverage:

WOLF BLITZER (HOST): We have the results now of our instant poll. We've been waiting for this. David Chalian, our political director, give us the results.

DAVID CHALIAN: Well, Wolf, as you know, we did a poll of debate watchers. This is not a national poll of all voters. This is a poll of debate watchers, and just like we saw in the first debate and vice presidential debate, the audience skews a little more Democratic. Debate watchers are a little more Democratic than we would see in a regular national poll overall. Having said that, who won the debate tonight, according to the debate watchers we polled? Hillary Clinton won the debate, 57 percent to 34 percent for Donald Trump. That's not as big of a victory she got in our poll in the first debate, but it is a clear victory here. [CNN, 10/9/16]

YouGov: Clinton Won The Second Debate 47 Percent to 42 Percent. A YouGov poll conducted immediately following the second presidential debate of “812 registered voters who watched the debate” found that “Hillary Clinton won the debate against Donald Trump by 47% to 42%.” It also found she won undecided voters by “44% to 41%.” From the October 9 article:

According to YouGov's post-debate poll, which interviewed 812 registered voters who watched the debate, Hillary Clinton won the debate against Donald Trump by 47% to 42%. Clinton narrowly won undecideds 44% to 41%. She was also considered “more Presidential” by a 57% to 31% margin. There was a gender gap, however: women thought Clinton won by 50-38%, while men thought Trump won by 46-43%. [YouGov, 10/9/16]

Video by John Kerr. Additional research done by Dayanita Ramesh.