A recap of the final 2016 presidential debate

On Wednesday, Oct. 19, the third and final general election debate began with moderator and Fox News television anchor Chris Wallace reminding audience members that in three weeks, one of the nominees on a stage will be the president of the United States of America, and thus they should remain silent despite what occurs on stage.

Topics covered during the debate ranged from how the Supreme Court should interpret the Constitution to the second amendment, abortion, immigration, the economy and the scandals of both candidates. The debate often grew heated as  Clinton and Trump became discussed Clinton’s support of a bill to tighten border control despite also supporting naturalization for undocumented immigrants, and Trump’s supposed friendship with Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin. Wallace maintained control by interrupting when he believed the debate would grow too heated or off topic and at times had to instruct both Trump and Clinton to allow the other to speak, as they were only allotted two minutes to respond to questions.

Trump interjected “wrong” when Clinton made statements such as that he had mocked a disabled reporter, and at one point interrupted Wallace himself. The nominee also attributed the violence at his Chicago rally and the women accusing him of sexual misconduct to illegal payments made by Clinton and Obama to people to create the violence. Clinton in turn claimed that Trump was questionably friendly with Putin and Putin was at the center of the Democratic National Party hacks, which he uses to sway the United States election in Trump’s directions. Many allegations were made in either direction, and Wallace asked questions to both candidates that did not always have easy answers that the candidates could use to paint themselves in a good light. Wallace probed about the women that accused Trump of sexual assault and Clinton perceivably awarding Clinton Foundation donors with special treatment despite swearing not to.

Many stand behind Clinton as the winner of the debate. Trump’s refusal to say he would concede the election if he lost come Nov. 8 impacted who was considered the winner. Many perceived the move as bad sportsmanship and unpatriotic for Trump to claim that the election system is rigged, and to not immediately say he would concede the election if he lost.