Trump in Post-Debate Freefall
A pivotal week in the 2016 presidential contest just concluded, and the week’s proceedings may very well be looked at after Election Day as the week that Hillary locked up the election. Trump was so thoroughly overwhelmed on Monday night during the first presidential debate that it is hard to put into words. As has frequently been the case during this election, he has since only made matters worse for himself by running his mouth and logging on his Twitter account.
Monday night’s debate at Hofstra University was a true work of art from Hillary that showed the immense amount of preparation and strategic thinking she and her campaign put into the debate. Post-debate polls were unanimous in declaring Hillary the clear winner of her first faceoff against Trump.
A CNN/ORC poll of debate-watchers showed that 62 percent of voters thought Hillary won the debate, compared to just 27 percent for Trump. A similar poll by Public Policy Polling gave Hillary a 51/40 edge among voters nationally, including a critical 63/24 advantage among young voters. A POLITICO/Morning Consult poll declared Hillary the decisive winner with 49 percent of likely voters saying that Hillary bested Trump and just 26 percent giving the edge to Trump. A variety of other indicators including movement in the betting markets and focus group results also pointed towards Hillary as the victor.
The debate aside, perhaps the biggest political news story of the week is the baffling self-sabotaging behavior that Trump has exhibited since the presidential debate concluded. Being the gutless coward that he is, Trump refused to take blame for his terrible debate performance and even refused to acknowledge that he lost. He was, however, quick to point fingers after his shaky debate performance, blaming everything from his microphone to debate moderator, Lester Holt.
Trump’s post-debate freefall continued with his obsession about settling an almost 20-year grudge with Alicia Machado, a former Miss Universe contestant from Venezuela who Hillary brought up in Monday night’s debate as a real life example of Trump’s unrelenting misogyny. Hillary used Trump’s own words against him during the debate in referencing Machado, whom Trump infamously fat-shamed with labels like “Ms. Piggy.” Hillary highlighted that Machado is now a U.S. citizen who is eager to campaign and ultimately vote for Hillary on November 8. As has been the norm for Trump, he refused to apologize to Machado when given the opportunity, and instead, has doubled down.
Trump’s disgusting treatment of Machado seemed to hit an infliction point late in the week during an early morning Twitter tirade in which he grossly alleged that Machado has a “sex tape.” Trump’s defaming comments about Machado are even a new low for him, and truly represent baffling behavior for a man who is hemorrhaging support from both Hispanic and female voters. Hillary succinctly made the case against Trump’s latest blatant act of misogyny with a Twitter post that simply read:
What kind of man stays up all night to smear a woman with lies and conspiracy theories?
You get the sense that Trump’s flimsy standing with women is about to go down the gutter even more after this latest episode. Already, Megyn Kelly from FOX News has grilled Trump’s campaign manager, Kellyanne Conway, about Trump’s long history of misogynistic comments, and has suggested to Trump surrogates that the GOP nominee “just shut up” about women’s weight. In the aftermath of Trump’s early morning Machado attacks, one of Trump’s top advisors in Florida, Healy Baumgardner, announced her resignation due to her concerns over the direction the campaign has now taken.
Hillary didn’t need much help securing the women voter going into this election, but it seems that Donald is more than happy to give it to her anyway. All decent people in this country understand that our nation’s grandmothers, mothers, wives, and daughters deserve better than Donald Trump, and that’s why we are proud to support Hillary this November.