Debate Descends Into Exchange Over Clinton’s Looks

Near the end of tonight’s debate, moderator Lester Holt asked Donald Trump to comment on recent comments in which the Republican presidential nominee said Hillary Clinton doesn’t have the "look” of a president. Trump deflected the question, instead questioning whether Clinton has the energy to be commander-in-chief.

“She doesn’t have the stamina, I don’t believe she has the stamina,” Trump said, denying he had commented on Clinton’s look. “Hillary has experience but it’s bad experience.”

The question created a palpable sense of awkwardness in the debate hall. But Clinton wasn’t shy about meeting the question head on, pointing back to Trump’s own past comments about women in public.

“He tried to switch from looks to stamina, but this is a man who has called women pigs, dogs and hogs,” Clinton said. “One of the worst things he said was about a woman in a beauty content. … He called this woman Miss Piggy.”

Then things got really weird. Was Trump about to bring up Bill Clinton’s past marital affairs? In a rambling answer about campaign attack ads, Trump said he had resisted the urge to respond in kind to personal attacks but said he almost went there.

“I was going to say something very tough to Hillary and her family but it’s inappropriate,” Trump said. “It’s not a nice thing that she’s done.”