Monday night was the first 2016 Presidential debate between the Democratic candidate and lifetime politician Hillary Clinton and GOP nominee and business mogul Donald Trump. Held at Hofstra University in New York, the first of three showdowns held little personal mudslinging and focused mainly on the candidates playing defense.
Neither third party candidate made it to the big show that evening. Green Party candidate Jill Stein was escorted from the Hofstra campus for not having the right security credentials. However, Stein did eventually speak from a podium – in another location. Labeled #occupythedebates, her quick snippets of video answering questions as if she were in the main event gave listeners another candidate to get behind.
Here she is talking about green energy:
We've got more jobs and an economy that works for you with the Green New Deal. #debates #occupythedebates pic.twitter.com/PG39vSKiLO
— Dr. Jill Stein (@DrJillStein) September 27, 2016
And on healthcare, Stein tweeted:
We need healthcare as a human right, we need to end the War on Drugs, establish $15/hour, and legalize marijuana. #debates #OccupyTheDebates
— Dr. Jill Stein (@DrJillStein) September 27, 2016
Some people expressed their disdain for the establishment not including the Green Party candidate:
The resistance @DrJillStein has been facing today is evidence that our current system is anti #democracy #OccupyTheDebates #debatenight https://t.co/VAuYcTiRvs
— Chantel Aberdeen (@C_A_Vision) September 26, 2016
Vermont’s Independent Senator and runner-up for the Democratic nomination, Bernie Sanders, also Tweeted along with the debate:
It's #debatenight so it's time to #DebateWithBernie. pic.twitter.com/ekSzNFl053
— Bernie Sanders (@BernieSanders) September 27, 2016
Throughout #DebateWithBernie, he remained steadfast in his support for Clinton and his disapproval of Trump:
How dare Trump express concerns about African Americans when his birther efforts attempted to delegitimize @POTUS. What a hypocrite!
— Bernie Sanders (@BernieSanders) September 27, 2016
The debate between the two major party candidates needed a lot of live fact-checking. Since none of the major networks committed to showing on-screen fact-checking during the debate, you can read the transcript and expert fact-checkers’ comments by NPR, here. CNN also fact-checked both sides. Verdict: Trump said the most number of false claims, Clinton had mostly true or mildly misleading statements.
One of the biggest fibs by Trump that night was regarding his acceptance of Obama’s American birth certificate.
In an effort to backpedal from his leading role in promoting the conspiracy theory that President Obama wasn’t a natural-born United States citizen, Trump claims that Clinton’s campaign began the birther conspiracy; this was found to be false. “According to the Telegraph, some Clinton supporters in 2008 circulated birther rumors during her primary campaign against Obama. It’s not clear why Trump continues to blame Clinton aide Sidney Blumenthal (who was once the Washington editor for Salon). But PolitiFact found “no evidence to support” Trump’s claims otherwise, thus rating the claim false,” reports Salon.com.
Drinking games are wildly popular on debate nights. For example, drink every time Clinton mentions her daughter and when Trump says ‘CHINA’. This Twitter-er had a better idea that won’t result in a workday-crippling morning hangover:
smoking a blunt every time a twitter comedian makes debate drinking game joke. #marijuana #overdose #dead #debatenight #smokeweedeveryday
— Mac Arthur Ph.D. (@DoctorMacArthur) September 27, 2016
Portland police reminded tokers to do so safely:
If you are planning to consume alcohol or marijuana while watching #DebateNight please do not get behind the wheel. pic.twitter.com/g2Ib33M1aX
— Portland Police (@PortlandPolice) September 26, 2016
An informal poll by the longtime cannabis advocacy magazine, Freedom Leaf, reveals their audience is divided on who won that night:
Hey #marijuana #legalization supporters! Who do you think won the #DebateNight? Tell us now in this poll! #PresidentialDebate
— FREEDOM LEAF (@FreedomLeafInc) September 27, 2016