ST. LOUIS, Oct. 9 (UPI) — Sunday’s second presidential debate opened with fireworks between Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton, with Trump calling the video that surfaced of him laughing about groping women embarrassing “locker room talk” and threatening to put Clinton in jail if he’s elected.
Clinton responded to the video scandal, saying it is the most recent evidence Trump is unfit to serve as president.
“It is awfully good that someone with the temperament of Donald Trump is not in charge of the laws of our country,” Clinton said.
“Because you’d be in jail,” Trump shot back, moments after he threatened to hire a special prosecutor if he’s elected to investigate Clinton’s private email server.
Sunday’s debate comes two days after Trump’s campaign was rocked by a release of a hot mic video recording in an interview with Access Hollywood, during which Trump boasted to host Billy Bush about trying to coerce women to have sex with him. In vulgar terms, Trump described coming onto a married woman and forcing himself on other women by kissing them and grabbing their genitals.
Trump released a video early Saturday during which he apologized for his comments. He also threatened to bring up Bill Clinton‘s history of marital infidelity.
He did just that less than two hours prior to the start of the debate, calling in reporters to allow four women who have accused Clinton of sexual misconduct in the past to repeat those allegations.
He did it again in the opening moments, saying his were words but Bill Clinton’s actions are different.
“If you look at Bill Clinton, far worse. Mine are words, his was action. There’s never been anybody in the history of politics as abusive to women. Bill Clinton was abusive to women. Hillary Clinton attacked those same women and attacked them viciously,” Trump said.
He told Clinton she should be “ashamed of herself.”
“Hillary brings up a point like that, and she talks about words I said 11 years ago, I think it’s disgraceful, and I think she should be ashamed of herself if you want to know the truth,” he said.
