One Went High, The Other Went Low: Hillary Clinton On Second Presidential Debate

Washington: Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton has said her Republican rival Donald Trump has spent his time attacking instead of apologising, as she pointed out how he went "low" during the second presidential debate.

"The differences between me and my opponent are pretty clear. To paraphrase my friend Michelle Obama, one of us went high and one of us went low," Ms Clinton said yesterday at an election rally in Detroit, Michigan. This was her first election rally after Sunday night's second presidential debate in St Louis, Missouri.

"Donald Trump spent his time attacking when he should have been apologising," she said amidst applause from the audience.

"Now, there are a lot of things he should apologise for, right?" she asked her supporters, who shouted back, "Yeah!" 

"On Friday, the whole world heard him talking about the terrible way he treats women," Ms Hillary Clinton said referring to the audio and video that has surfaced in which Mr Trump is seen making lewd comments about women. Mr Trump has apologised for his remarks made 11 years ago. The audience booed as Ms Clinton made reference to the lewd remarks of the 70-year-old real estate baron.

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"Last night, when he was pressed about how he behaves, he just doubled down on his excuse that it is just locker room banter. Well, I'll tell you what. Women and men across America know that is just a really weak excuse for behaving badly and mistreating people," Ms Clinton said.

"I've got to tell you, though, we've seen this kind of behavior all through the campaign from my opponent. And unfortunately, some people do not want to face it, but here is a man who has insulted not just women but African-Americans, Latinos, people with disabilities, Muslims, PoWs and so many more," she said as the audience booed Mr Trump again.

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"We now know who Donald Trump is, but the real question for us is who are we, right? I would argue we are not who he is. Here in America, we are taught to and we should respect each other. Lift each other up. Celebrate our diversity. That's the country that I know and love. And that's the country that this generation of young people is going to make even stronger, more open, more tolerant," she said.

"I believe that we can do this. 'Stronger together' is not just a slogan for me, it's a blueprint for our future. I believe our economy should work for everyone, not just those at the top and I'm closing my campaign the way I started my career: fighting for kids and families to make sure every single person in this country has the chance to go as far as your hard work and your talent will take you," she said.

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"I believe the American dream is big enough for everybody. That's been the cause of my life. That will be the mission of my presidency, working to make your life better. Investing in you. Focusing on those kitchen table issues that keep families up at night. You know what they are, the cost of college, the cost of child care, which in lots of places is as much as college. Paying for health care, especially prescription drugs," she added.

Ms Clinton lashed out at Mr Donald Trump for not paying taxes.

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"He has not contributed his fair share by any stretch of the imagination to support our country. He has been taking from America with both hands and sticking the rest of us with the bill, because I believe that every single one of us in this room today has paid more in federal income taxes than Donald Trump has," she said.

She was also critical of Mr Trump for dragging businessman and philanthropist Warren Buffett into the debate.

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"It was like, oh yeah, well maybe I've never paid income tax and maybe somebody else has not either and he mentioned Warren Buffett. Well today, Warren Buffet put out a statement. Well, for starters, Warren Buffett is a real billionaire," she said. Mr Buffet issued a statement that he has paid his taxes, she said.

Ms Clinton alleged Mr Trump wants to get rid of the new rules on Wall Street and the agency that protects consumers from being cheated. "That is just so backward and if companies try to shift jobs overseas, we're going to make them pay back every penny in any tax benefit they ever got. And how are we going to pay for it? Well, we're going to pay for it by getting people at the top to pay their taxes," she said.

"We know how to do this and we had quite a back and forth last night because it was bizarre. Donald Trump's proposals have been independently analysed. They will only help people like Donald Trump. They are the biggest tax breaks for the wealthy ever. They will raise taxes on millions of middle-class families," she said, adding, "That does not work".