Sunday’s presidential debate was Donald Trump’s chance of explaining the tape from 2005 where he was found to using graphic language, objectifying, and making derogatory comments on women.
Some of his supporters seemed to have expected a bit more than Trump’s constant referring to the video as ‘locker room banter’. Perhaps they wished to hear he is a changed man now. This debate was Trump’s chance of explaining his remorse and ideology to his female supporters. But he failed spectacularly. Reports of many of his supporters backing out have been spreading like wildfire.
A female Republican supporter said that there was no reason to believe that he has changed at all. Interactions with other supporters have shown that most of them are in the same line suggesting that Mr. Trump might not have harmed someone physically, but those very words suggested that he had the power and intention of doing so.
A moderator, Anderson Cooper, asked him about the tape a number of times, stressing on whether Mr. Trump understood the gravity of the situation. He also wondered if the candidate had actually carried out any such actions in the past. Trump, without offering any serious apology, simply denied it.
Mrs. Clinton repeated her claim that Donald Trump is not fit to be a commander in chief and that the tape represents exactly who he is. The debate turned ugly when Mr. Trump kept referring to Bill Clinton’s past sexual trespasses. It was surprising to see how eagerly Mr. Trump sought to change the entire topic and focus on Bill Clinton when the latter was not even in the picture.
However, some supporters still have faith. They have dismissed the tape as entirely useless and nothing but a distraction, and an 11-year old one at that, from the presidential campaign.
For several other voters, it was their chance to witness how Mr. Trump would manage to get out of such a situation where he would have to either defend or correct himself for passing explicit comments on the other gender, in front of a leader belonging to the same. Needless to say, in the final weeks, Mr. Trump’s campaign might have just been jeopardized by his careless remarks and refusal to correct himself.