During the second presidential debate, Donald Trump lied repeatedly, admitted to not paying taxes, contradicted his own running mate, brushed off bragging about sexual assault as “locker room talk” and threatened to throw Hillary Clinton in jail. But some commentators still attempted to paint Sunday night’s event as a evenly matched fight.
Some pundits, like MSNBC’s Chuck Todd, gave Trump credit for not imploding.
CNN host Jake Tapper also called the debate a “wash.”
Other media outlets, like the Washington Post, compared Trump’s terrifying jail threats to Clinton’s very legitimate criticisms of her opponent’s history of sexism. On Friday, Trump became embroiled in yet another sexism scandal after video leaked showing the GOP nominee boasting about groping women to then-“Access Hollywood” host Bill Bush.
CNN referred to Trump’s jail comment and Clinton’s criticism of Trump’s temperament as “the nastiest lines at the town hall.”
The New York Times described both candidates as using an “angry tone.” Meanwhile, Reuters lobbed Trump’s “devil” remark in with shots Clinton took on his record with women.
The issue of false equivalence has been central to coverage of the 2016 election. In pursuit of objectivity, journalists often stack up the sins of the two major party candidates: the Clinton Foundation vs. the Trump Foundation. Clinton’s use of a private email server vs. Trump’s praising of dictatorships.
But as The New York Times’ Paul Krugman puts it, it’s “hard to escape the impression that he’s being graded on a curve.”
Sunday seemed to be no different.
Editor’s note: Donald Trump regularlyincitespolitical violence and is a