Students and faculty gathered on the plaza at GCC to watch the third and final presidential debate on Thursday between Democrat, Hillary Clinton and Republican, Donald Trump.
The two candidates squared off with polarizing viewpoints on issues regarding immigration, gun laws, abortion, the WikiLeaks controversy, foreign policy and the economy. Chris Wallace, Fox News anchor moderated the debate.
Earlier this week, Trump was criticized for his most controversial comment thus far in his campaign, insinuating the election process was rigged against him, and he therefore would not accept the results if he lost on Nov. 8.
“I will look at it at the time,” Trump said, twice refusing to answer Wallace’s question on whether he would accept the outcome should Clinton win. “I will keep you in suspense.”
On the issue of gun laws, Clinton said that with 30,000 deaths per year due to gun violence, she wants to close the loopholes but not abolish the Second Amendment. Her opponent spoke about his support from the National Rifle Association (NRA).
“I am a very strong supporter of the Second Amendment. And I am — I don’t know if Hillary was saying it in a sarcastic manner, but I’m very proud to have the endorsement of the NRA,” Trump said.
On the issue of abortion, Trump, an anti-abortion rights supporter, argued that as president, he would make sure to put pro-life justices on the court. In response to this, Clinton, a pro-abortion rights supporter, said she was in favor of protecting Roe v. Wade, the Supreme Court decision that granted women the right to abortion.
“So many states are putting stringent regulations. I will defend Planned Parenthood. . . I will defend Roe v. Wade and I will defend women’s rights to make their own healthcare decisions. We have come too far to have that turn back now,” Clinton said.
Trump disagreed.
“If you go with what Hillary is saying, in the ninth month, you can take the baby and rip the baby out of the womb of the mother just prior to the birth of the baby,” Trump said. “Now you can say that that’s OK and Hillary can say that that’s OK, but it’s not OK with me.”
Clinton responded by referring to Trump’s statements as “scare rhetoric.”
On the issue of immigration, Trump wanted to build a wall on the border of Mexico and the U.S. whereas Clinton wanted to create immigration reform.
“We have some bad hombres here,” Trump said referring to illegal immigrants.
Clinton criticized Trumps plan, citing that there would have to be a massive law enforcement presence that would rip families apart due to deportation.
“He used undocumented labor to build the Trump Tower. He underpaid undocumented workers, and when they complained, he basically said what a lot of employers do: ‘You complain, I’ll get you deported,’” Clinton said. “I want to get everybody out of the shadows, get the economy working, and not let employers like Donald exploit undocumented workers, which hurts them, but also hurts American workers.”
Trump also opened an attack on the president, saying that Obama has been deporting “millions” of people.
“While ‘millions’ is an exaggeration, the country has increased its deportation efforts in recent years to a high of 435,000 in 2013, according to government data cited by the Pew Research Center,” Nicholas Wells and Mark Fahey, CNBC reporters wrote.
“Such a nasty woman,” Trump said to Clinton after she informed the audience of her proposed tax plan and criticized Trump of finagling out of paying his share of federal taxes.
Election day will take place on Nov. 8, polls will be open from 7 a.m. to 8 p.m. To find your local polling station visit LAVote.net