During the second presidential debate on Sunday, after Donald Trump brushed off his leaked comments about forcing himself on women as "locker room talk," Hillary Clinton fired back, saying that until today, she has never before questioned an opponent's fitness to serve.
"Donald Trump is different," she said. "I said starting back in June that he was not fit to be president and commander in chief. Many Republicans and independents have said the same thing, what we all saw and heard on Friday was Donald talking about women, what he thinks about women, what he does to women, and he has said that the video doesn't represent who he is, but I think it's clear to anyone who heard it that it represents exactly who he is." Throughout the campaign, "we have seen him insult women, we've seen him rate women on their appearance, ranking them from 1 to 10, we've seen him embarrass women on TV and on Twitter, we saw him after the first debate spend nearly a week denigrating a Miss Universe in the harshest, most personal terms, so yes, this is who Donald Trump is."
That's just the tip of the iceberg, Clinton continued. "He has also targeted immigrants, African Americans, Latinos, people with disabilities, POWs, Muslims, and so many others." While that's who Trump is, that's not what the United States is all about. "I want to send a message to every boy and girl, indeed to the entire world: America already is great, but we are great because we are good and we will respect one another and we will work with one another and we will celebrate our diversity. These are very important values to me because this is the America that I know and love and I can pledge to you outright that this is the America that I will serve if I am so fortunate enough to be your president."
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
-
Settling the West Bank: a death knell for a Palestine state?In the Spotlight The reality on the ground is that the annexation of the West Bank is all but a done deal
-
Sudoku medium: August 23, 2025The Week's daily medium sudoku puzzle
-
Sudoku hard: August 23, 2025The Week's daily hard sudoku puzzle
-
Judge: Trump's US attorney in NJ serving unlawfullySpeed Read The appointment of Trump's former personal defense lawyer, Alina Habba, as acting US attorney in New Jersey was ruled 'unlawful'
-
Third judge rejects DOJ's Epstein records requestSpeed Read Judge Richard Berman was the third and final federal judge to reject DOJ petitions to unseal Epstein-related grand jury material
-
Texas OKs gerrymander sought by TrumpSpeed Read The House approved a new congressional map aimed at flipping Democratic-held seats to Republican control
-
Israel starts Gaza assault, approves West Bank planSpeed Read Israel forces pushed into the outskirts of Gaza City and Netanyahu's government gave approval for a settlement to cut the occupied Palestinian territory in two
-
Court says labor board's structure unconstitutionalSpeed Read The ruling has broad implications for labor rights enforcement in Texas, Louisiana and Mississippi
-
Feds seek harsh charges in DC arrests, except for riflesSpeed Read The DOJ said 465 arrests had been made in D.C. since Trump federalized law enforcement there two weeks ago
-
Trump taps Missouri AG to help lead FBISpeed Read Missouri Attorney General Andrew Bailey has been appointed FBI co-deputy director, alongside Dan Bongino
-
Trump warms to Kyiv security deal in summitSpeed Read Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy called Trump's support for guaranteeing his country's security 'a major step forward'
