Republican candidate Donald Trump and Democrat Hillary Clinton went head to head on Monday evening in their first presidential debate, while millions of American voters watched.
The following are the most prominent statements in the debate, which will be followed by two more in debates on October 9 and 19, before the presidential ballot in November 8.
Your own reality:
Regarding the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA), Clinton said, “Donald, I know you live in your own reality, but that is not the facts.”
Climate change:
Clinton said, “Donald thinks that climate change is a hoax perpetrated by the Chinese. I think it’s real. I think it's important that we grip this and deal with it both at home and abroad.”
Emails and taxes:
Trump said, "I will release my tax returns, against my lawyer's wishes, when she releases her 33,000 emails that have been deleted."
Clinton said, "So you've got to ask yourself, why don’t he release his tax returns? And I think there may be a couple of reasons."
Prepared:
Clinton said, "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.”
Security:
Trump said, "We have to bring back law and order. African Americans and Hispanics are living in hell. You walk down the street and you get shot. We have gangs roaming the street and in many cases they're illegally here, illegal immigrants, and they have guns and they shoot people. And we have to be strong and we have to be vigilant. Right now our police are afraid to do anything."
Obama's origins:
Clinton said, "He has really started his political activity based on this racist lie that our first black president was not an American citizen. There was absolutely no evidence for it, but he persisted year after year."
Middle-East mess:
Trump said, "You look at the Middle East. It's a total mess, under your direction, to a large extent. You’re talking about taking out ISIS. But you were there, and you were secretary of state, when it was a little infant. Now, it’s in over 30 countries, and you’re going to stop them? I don’t think so.”
Policeman of the world:
Trump said, "We cannot be the policeman of the world, we cannot protect countries all over the world, where they're not paying us what we need."
Clinton said, "At least I have a plan to fight ISIS."
Trump said, "No, no. You're telling the enemy everything you want to do. No wonder you've been fighting ISIS your entire adult life."
Stamina:
Trump said, “She doesn’t have the stamina.”
Clinton said, “Well, as soon as he travels to 112 countries and negotiates a peace deal… or even spends 11 hours testifying in front of a Congressional committee he can talk to me about stamina.”
Supporting the winner:
Trump said, "If she wins, I will absolutely support her."
