Trump aggressive, Clinton steady in tense debate.

The tension between Mr. Trump and Ms. Clinton was palpable from the start of their 90-minute debate. The two U.S. presidential nominees set off the event with several personal attacks in the light of Mr. Trump’s leaked tapes. First sign of the escalating tension: no handshake as they met at centre stage.

Plunging right into the heated topic, Mr. Trump was asked to comment on the tapes that were leaked on Friday. The real estate mogul denied that he never kissed and grabbed women without their consent. The Republican nominee said thate “it was just locker room talk and he was not proud of it.” He argued that his crude words from a newly released video paled in comparison to what he called Bill Clinton’s abuse of women.

Standing a few feet away from the former president’s wife, he accused Hillary Clinton of attacking those women herself. “She should be ashamed of herself,” Trump declared.

In the town hall format, where both the nominees took questions from the audience, were asked about healthcare, Syrian crisis, refugees and tax laws. Mr. Trump was asked to respond about his “proposed ban on Muslims into America.” while Ms. Clinton had to tough deal with questions on her deleted emails.

In a stunningly brazen move, Donald Trump met Sunday night with several women who have accused Bill Clinton of rape and other unwanted sexual advances, just over an hour before stepping on the debate stage.

The Trump pre-debate event was the clearest sign yet that he planned to use Bill Clinton’s extramarital affairs to try to distract from the swirling controversy over his own predatory remarks about women. Trump is under enormous pressure from his own Republican Party after the release of a 2005 video in which the businessman can be heard saying his fame allows him to “do anything” to women.

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