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Trump, Clinton wage nasty second debate

Posted at 10:06 PM, Oct 09, 2016
and last updated 2016-10-09 23:09:19-04

(CNN) — Politics in America changed Sunday night.

The once sacred tradition of a presidential debate exploded into something quite chilling.

The Republican nominee seemingly dismissed the significance of the vulgar language he used toward women a decade ago, apologizing for his conduct but repeatedly saying his remarks were just “locker room talk.”

With Clinton’s husband and daughter watching from the audience, Trump lashed into Bill Clinton’s infidelities, calling him “abusive.” Trump said he would appoint a special prosecutor as president to look into her past.

Clinton didn’t take the bait. She repeated First Lady Michelle Obama’s philosophy articulated at the Democratic convention: “When they go low, we go high.”

But Clinton made clear that her trouble with Trump goes beyond the partisan clash typical of a presidential campaign. She said she spent much of the past 48 hours thinking about the video that shows Trump making lewd and sexually aggressive remarks about women. She said that she had differed before with Republicans over policy.

“I never questioned their fitness to serve,” she said. “Donald Trump is different.”