The night of Monday, the 26th of September, saw the two US Presidential candidates Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump come face to face for the first official presidential debate – and quite predictably, the latter’s arguments made his inherent sexism quite clear.
A presidential debate is a platform where both candidates are meant to discuss their policies and agenda, but during the entire course of the debate, Trump did the exact opposite. In fact, he focused his energies in constantly interrupting, rebutting and talking over Hillary’s arguments instead of concentrating on his own. Vox noted that Trump tried shutting Hillary down more than 40 times in the entire debate, while HuffPost called him the “ultimate manterrupter.”
Some studies have shown that men speak as much as 75% more than women in a business setting, and a lot of that has to do with interrupting, or women’s fear of being interrupted. But Hillary refused to relent in the face of such interruptions and throughout all of Trump’s frivolous and patronizing rebuttals and interruptions, maintained a dignity and resolve that was truly inspirational. She was coherent, precise, and stuck to substantial arguments rather than falling prey to Trump’s constant attacks. One tweet summed up it really well:
It is very obvious that Clinton has spent her whole career dealing with men interrupting her and talking over her. #debatenight pic.twitter.com/H9VrlO7DXV
— Ellie Hall (@ellievhall) September 27, 2016
Truly, her performance in the debate has gone on to become [envoke_twitter_link]a brilliant lesson in how to shut down that mansplainer[/envoke_twitter_link] who constantly interrupts and talks over women, and thinks they know better even when they don’t. Here are 6 instances from the debate where she showed us how it’s done:
1. When She Chose To Ignore A Patronizing Comment Point Blank
As the debate began, Trump addressed Hillary as “Secree-tary Clinton,” enunciating the word in a way which made it sound ridiculously patronizing and superior. He followed it up by saying that, “I just want you to be happy” in an equally condescending tone. Thankfully, Hillary declined to even acknowledge that and simply shrugged in response.
2. When Trump Called Her ‘Temperamental’ And She Laughed It Off
“The AFL-CIO the other day, behind the blue screen, I don’t know who you were talking to, Secretary Clinton, but you were totally out of control. I said, there’s a person with a temperament that’s got a problem,” said Trump, in a clearly accusatory tone.
It was ironic, coming from a person whose ‘temperament’ during his entire campaign has beend focused on blatant hatemongering, so all Hillary did was say ‘Whew, Okay,’ and laugh. She even did an impromptu shoulder shimmy; and her poise was met with unanimous response from the audience.
3. When She Showed Trump Who Has The Real “Stamina”
Earlier this month, Hillary had to leave during a 9/11 memorial because she was suffering from Pneumonia During the debate, Trump commented on it: “I said she doesn’t have the stamina. And I don’t believe she does have the stamina. To be president of this country, you need tremendous stamina.”
But Hillary was going to have none of that. In one of the most memorable rebuttals of the night, she said: “Well, as soon as he travels to 112 countries and negotiates a peace deal, a cease-fire, a release of dissidents, an opening of new opportunities in nations around the world, or even spends 11 hours testifying in front of a congressional committee, he can talk to me about stamina.”
Yup, Hillary had actually done all of that during her tenure as Secretary of State!
4. When She Exposed Trump’s Long History of Sexism
“This is a man who has called women pigs, slobs and dogs, and someone who has said pregnancy is an inconvenience to employers, who has said women don’t deserve equal pay unless they do as good a job as men,” said Hillary.
While Trump kept trying to interrupt her but failed to topple her resolve. She narrated another powerful incident:
“And one of the worst things he said was about a woman in a beauty contest. He loves beauty contests, supporting them and hanging around them. And he called this woman ‘Miss Piggy.’ Then he called her ‘Miss Housekeeping,’ because she was Latina. Donald, she has a name. Her name is Alicia Machado. And she has become a U.S. citizen, and you can bet she’s going to vote this November.”
5. When Trump Thought He Knew Better, Even Though She Was Way More Qualified Than Him
While on the subject of jobs and employments, this was an actual exchange that happened:
Hillary: I know how to really work to get new jobs and to get exports that helped to create more new jobs.
Trump:But you haven’t done it in 30 years or 26 years or any number you want to…
Hillary: Well, I’ve been a senator, Donald…
Trump: You haven’t done it. You haven’t done it.
Hillary: And I have been a secretary of state…
Trump: Excuse me.
Hillary: And I have done a lot.
He was basically trying to discredit all of her achievements and act like he knew better, but she politely, and effectively shut him down by stating simple facts.
6. When She Showed Him Who’s The Boss
At one point of the debate, Trump boasted about how his campaign had travelled everywhere (especially in the past week), and how Hillary had ‘stayed home’ instead. To this, Hillary responded: “I think — I think Donald just criticized me for preparing for this debate. And, yes, I did. And you know what else I prepared for? I prepared to be president. And I think that’s a good thing.”
This pretty much seals the deal, doesn’t it?