A defiant Donald Trump on Sunday attacked former President Bill Clinton for his treatment of women and vowed, if he won the White House, to put Hillary Clinton in jail for operating a private email server while US Secretary of State.
The Republican presidential candidate said he would appoint a special prosecutor to look into his Democratic rival's email use because she had endangered national security during her tenure as President Barack Obama's chief diplomat from 2009-2013.
The 90-minute debate got off to a chilly start when the two candidates for the 8 November election greeted each other without the traditional handshake.
It quickly turned into an acrimonious discussion of a 2005 video that emerged on Friday, in which Trump was heard using vulgar language and talking about groping women without consent. Trump said he was embarrassed by the video but dismissed it as "locker room talk." President Bill Clinton had done worse to women, he said.
"Mine are words and his are action," said Trump, who appeared before the debate with women who have accused Bill Clinton of sexual misconduct. In the debate, Trump also accused Hillary Clinton of going on the attack against women, who had alleged sexual misconduct by her husband, president from 1993-2001.
During the many attacks launched by the two, Trump addressed Clinton directly over her private email server, saying: "You ought to be ashamed of yourself."
Clinton said, “You know it’s just awfully good that someone with the temperament of Donald Trump is not in charge of the law in this country.” Trump shot back: “Because you’d be in jail.”
A nearly year-long investigation by the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) into the emails concluded earlier this year without charges being filed.
However, FBI Director James Comey said Clinton had been careless in her handling of sensitive material.
(With Reuters inputs)
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