Students criticize Trump’s behavior

JHU College Republicans, Hopkins College Democrats and IDEAL hosted a viewing party for the second presidential debate in Nolan’s on Sunday. Students gathered to watch Republican candidate Donald Trump and Democratic candidate Hillary Clinton field questions from audience members in the debate’s town hall format.

Martha Raddatz and Anderson Cooper moderated the debate. Topics included foreign policy, Islamophobia, gun violence and environmental policy, among many others.

Joseph Klein, a Republican sophomore, shared his thoughts on the opening of the debate.

“I would say that was probably the worst moment in American Debate history. I can’t see how it could have gotten any worse as far as personal attacks, and just unnecessary banter between the two,” Klein said.

Early in the debate, Donald Trump was asked to respond to his recent comments about women. Among the most talked-about moments of the debate was when he defended the comments he made in a 2005 Access Hollywood video, calling them “locker room talk.”

Klein believes Trump’s comments about women are inexcusable.

“There is no excuse for [sexual assault]. The sizable majority of Republican leadership has come out and said that, and that is what has caused people to pull their endorsements. And it’s right for them to do so,” he said.

Prior to the debate, many Republicans like House Speaker Paul Ryan (R-WI), refused to defend Trump’s comments. Others, including former presidential candidate and current senator John McCain (R-AZ) withdrew their support. These prominent party leaders distancing themselves from and abandoning Trump’s campaign represents the growing divide within the Republican party.

Sophomore Vahni Bernard spoke about Trump’s prospects going forward.

“I think that [Trump] would like to believe that a lot of America is on his side and that he has a chance, but I think the country is too intelligent and aware of what needs to happen in order for him to be elected,” Bernard said.

Cooper questioned the candidates on the humanitarian crisis in Syria, citing Mike Pence’s statement on the issue. Trump responded that he had not spoken with Pence before he made those statements and that he disagrees with him.

Zack Tipton, vice president of IDEAL, credited this as a weakness in Trump’s campaign.

“That showed a real split in their ticket, which isn’t a good thing. For him it is kind of disastrous because it is just showing that he has no control over his campaign,” Tipton said. “I mean, it’s kind of gotten to the point where it’s just its own animal. It’s just Trump being Trump.”

Following the debate, most media coverage credited Clinton as the winner of the debate. However, Trump’s performance exceeded expectations.

Senior Cynthia Hadler, president of the College Democrats, thinks the outcome of the debate is more a failure for Trump than a success for Clinton.

“I don’t believe Clinton provided a knockout blow. But she didn’t necessarily need to. Trump has been steadily on the decline since the first debate, and his performance last night is unlikely to change that,” Hadler said. “People placed a very low bar for Trump, expecting him to implode on stage. People who thought he won were simply impressed he didn’t fail as dramatically as expected. However, Hillary continued to showcase her insurmountable knowledge advantage.”