- Title: Reactions mixed among young Republicans after contentious debate
- Date: 10th October 2016
- Summary: LONG BEACH, CALIFORNIA, UNITED STATES (OCTOBER 9, 2016) (REUTERS) MEMBERS OF THE LONG BEACH YOUNG REPUBLICANS GROUP WATCHING DEBATE SCREEN SHOWING DEBATE AS PEOPLE WATCH PEOPLE LAUGHING AND APPLAUDING PEOPLE'S FACES WATCHING SCREEN IN BACKGROUND AS PEOPLE WATCH DEBATE MAN WATCHING MAN TEXTING WOMAN WATCHING (SOUNDBITE) (English) CLIA ZWILLING, 26, PRESIDENT OF THE LONG BEACH YOUNG REPUBLICANS, SAYING: "To be honest, I don't even think there was a winner, to be completely honest. I think it's almost exactly like the first debate. I kind of heard the exact same things. I'll say Trump did a better job of pointing out the things that the public wanted him to point out and I'm sure Hillary pointed out the things that the Democrats wanted her to point out. But at the same point, I think it's already decided. Those undecided voters, I'm not sure that this helps them." (SOUNDBITE) (English) JULIAN DEL REAL-CALLEROS, 26, VICE PRESIDENT OF LONG BEACH YOUNG REPUBLICANS, SAYING: "The fact is that Donald Trump performed a lot more better. He did. And he actually put Hillary Clinton on the defensive this time. So I guess the performance was better but for me it's probably too early to figure out who won the debate, but I can say that Donald Trump did perform better and Hillary was at the defense." (SOUNDBITE) (English) JEFF NORMAN, WHO REGISTERED AS A REPUBLICAN SO HE COULD VOTE FOR DONALD TRUMP, SAYING: "I think he has a lot of skills and together they add up to be very formidable. He's not the greatest debater. It's not his strength. But I thought he did well and he landed some shots and I liked the zingers." (SOUNDBITE) (English) MARK RIZK, 29, MEMBER OF LONG BEACH YOUNG REPUBLICANS SAYING: "Every time Hillary Clinton tried to bring up the tape that unfortunately came out a day or two ago, he just reminded her, hey, your husband has a track record that far exceeds anything that I've ever said. So I think he was right in doing that, because if she's going to attack him on just some childish little comments -- and I went to all-boys Catholic high school, so I know of comments like that. It's a guy thing, OK? She has to just get over it." (SOUNDBITE) BOB ARTHUR, A REPUBLICAN AND MEMBER OF THE BOARD OF TRUSTEES AT CERRITOS COLLEGE, SAYING: "I think his apology was sincere. He answered the question right off the top, right away. Move on." (SOUNDBITE) (English) JEFF NORMAN, WHO REGISTERED AS A REPUBLICAN SO HE COULD VOTE FOR DONALD TRUMP, SAYING: "I thought it was a great move bringing Bill Clinton's accusers there. It was a little hard to hear, but it seemed like it was almost a little bit squandered because it didn't seem like it got that big of a reaction, whereas the idea of it strikes me as really ballsy and dramatic." (SOUNDBITE) CLIA ZWILLING, 26, PRESIDENT OF THE LONG BEACH YOUNG REPUBLICANS, SAYING: "I don't know that the voters really want to hear that much more about it, because I think everyone wants to talk about the economy, they want to talk about ISIS, they want to talk about so much more. And that's kind of like a tabloid thing. Like, if we wanted to read something that we would find in a tabloid, we'd go and buy a tabloid. We wanted to watch the debate and talk about real issues." (SOUNDBITE) (English) JULIAN DEL REAL-CALLEROS, 26, VICE PRESIDENT OF LONG BEACH YOUNG REPUBLICANS "I think he took responsibility for them but I think he could have come out with a better way to actually tell people he's actually sorry for it." PAN FROM SCREEN TO PEOPLE WATCHING VARIOUS OF PEOPLE WATCHING PEOPLE LAUGHING PAN FROM SCREEN TO PEOPLE WATCHING
- Embargoed: 25th October 2016 06:18
- Keywords: presidential president debate Donald Trump Hillary Clinton Republicans watch party TV television
- Location: LONG BEACH, CALIFORNIA, UNITED STATES
- City: LONG BEACH, CALIFORNIA, UNITED STATES
- Country: USA
- Topics: Government/Politics,Elections/Voting
- Reuters ID: LVA00153F7HON
- Aspect Ratio: 16:9
- Story Text: In a contentious town-hall debate on Sunday (October 9), a defiant Donald Trump dismissed as "locker room talk" a controversy over a video in which he made obscene comments about groping women.
At a presidential debate watch party in the coastal southern California city of Long Beach, young Republicans applauded the Republican presidential candidate's performance over Democratic rival Hillary Clinton, but were divided on who won the debate.
"I don't even think there was a winner, to be completely honest," said Clia Zwilling, 26, president of the Long Beach Young Republicans. "I think it's almost exactly like the first debate. I kind of heard the exact same things."
"For me it's probably too early to figure out who won the debate, but I can say that Donald Trump did perform better and Hillary was at the defense," said the group's vice president Julian Del Real-Calleros.
The 90-minute debate got off to a chilly start when the two candidates for the Nov. 8 election greeted each other without the traditional handshake. It quickly turned into an acrimonious discussion of a 2005 video that emerged on Friday (October 7) in which Trump was heard using vulgar language and talking about groping women without consent.
He said he was embarrassed by the video but dismissed it as "locker room talk." He said President Bill Clinton had done worse to women.
Mark Rizk, 29, agreed.
"Every time Hillary Clinton tried to bring up the tape that unfortunately came out a day or two ago, he just reminded her, hey, your husband has a track record that far exceeds anything that I've ever said," he said.
"It's a guy thing, OK? She has to just get over it," he added.
Trump met just hours before the debate on Sunday with three women who had accused Bill Clinton of sexual misconduct and a fourth woman who was a victim in a rape case that Hillary Clinton participated in as a defense attorney. All four sat in the first row of the audience at the debate.
"I thought it was a great move bringing Bill Clinton's accusers there. It was a little hard to hear, but it seemed like it was almost a little bit squandered because it didn't seem like it got that big of a reaction, whereas the idea of it strikes me as really ballsy and dramatic," Jeff Norman, who said he did not identify as a Republican, but registered as one so he could vote for Trump.
A flood of Republicans have withdrawn their support for Trump over the video. The controversy has pitched Trump into the biggest crisis of his 16-month-old campaign and deepened fissures between him and establishment Republicans.
The third and final presidential debate takes place on Oct. 19 in Las Vegas, Nevada. - Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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