Hillary Clinton winning this election has pretty much had an air of inevitability to it since day 1 of the primaries, which is why Clinton supporters (and really anyone who isn’t quite ready for the apocalypse) were so unsettled by polling that showed she was neck-and-neck with Republican nominee Donald Trump last month. That fear subsided substantially when audio of Trump boasting about groping women without consent surfaced recently, and these Clinton quotes from the third debate are pretty much the additional nails in that coffin. Frankly, I wouldn’t be surprised if Team Clinton were already planning its 2020 campaign for re-election after Wednesday night.
Throughout the night, the dynamic arch-enemies squared off on the Supreme Court, immigration, and who’s fit to be president. Predictably enough, Trump tried his best to drive home the whole “Crooked Hillary” narrative, but Clinton countered his critiques levelheadedly, maturely, and effectively in a few short lines.
Sure, she had the advantage of having a lot more (and weightier) material to work with (the man has, like, half a dozen standing sexual assault accusations against him and audio of him seemingly boasting about it), but she still managed to call his character even further into question. Here are the highlights:
On what kind of country Americans want…
.@HillaryClinton says #SCOTUS defines "what kind of country we will be." #debatenight #ncpol @WNCN
— Beau Minnick (@BeauMinnick) October 20, 2016
On going backwards…
Clinton on Supreme Court: "It is important that we not reverse marriage equality, that we not reverse Roe v Wade" https://t.co/zoTZRnriKH
— CNN (@CNN) October 20, 2016
On the rights of the LGBT community…
.@HillaryClinton says we need a Supreme Court that stands up for the rights of women and the LGBT community. #debatenight
— fox8news (@fox8news) October 20, 2016
And on women’s rights…
Watch live: Hillary Clinton says we need a Supreme Court that will “stand up” for women’s rights #debate https://t.co/DDuTDLPwml pic.twitter.com/0AFkwcmZW8
— Yahoo News (@YahooNews) October 20, 2016
On the role of the Supreme Court…
Clinton: "The Supreme Court should represent all of us." #debate
— Travis Ruiz (@TravRuiz) October 20, 2016
On gun control…
Clinton: "I support the Second Amendment. I understand and respect the tradition of gun ownership." https://t.co/ln6vGzInbF #debate
— FOX 12 Oregon KPTV (@fox12oregon) October 20, 2016
On gun regulation…
Hillary Clinton: "I support the Second Amendment … But I also believe that there must be reasonable regulation." https://t.co/GrsX6HQbm3
— CNN (@CNN) October 20, 2016
On abortion…
Clinton: "I don't think the U.S. government should be stepping in and making those most personal decisions" re late term abortion.
— Joy Reid (@JoyAnnReid) October 20, 2016
On choice…
Clinton on abortion: "This is one of the worst possible choices that women and their families have to make." #debates
— HuffPost (@HuffPost) October 20, 2016
On deportation…
Clinton: I met a young woman here named Carla who was worried about her parents would be deported.
— Rosemary Barton (@RosieBarton) October 20, 2016
On immigration reform…
Clinton: We're nation of immigrants and laws and can act accordingly- says she'll introduce immigration reform in 1st 100 days #debatenight
— NBC Latino (@NBCLatino) October 20, 2016
On wikileaks…
Clinton: what is important about wikileaks is that the Russian govt has engaged in espionage of Americans.
— Rosemary Barton (@RosieBarton) October 20, 2016
On Putin…
Hillary Clinton: Putin would prefer to have "a puppet" as president of the US #Debate https://t.co/BfSIYEjfMZ https://t.co/0Etb2ub5Me
— Anderson Cooper 360° (@AC360) October 20, 2016
On Trump having access to nuclear weapons…
"He's said "if we have them why don't we use them?" Which I think is, uh, terrifying" – Clinton on nukes. #debatenight
— Jennifer Gosnell (@JenniferGosnell) October 20, 2016
On creating new opportunities for the middle class…
Clinton: "When the middle class thrives, America thrives." #debates
— HuffPost (@HuffPost) October 20, 2016
On the gender wage gap…
"I for sure feel that women should get equal pay for the work we do." – @HillaryClinton #debatenight
— Elizabeth Campbell (@ECampbell360) October 20, 2016
On Trump causing another recession…
"The plan he has will cost us jobs and probably another great recession," @HillaryClinton says on Trump's economic plan. #DebateNight
— ABC 7 News – WJLA (@ABC7News) October 20, 2016
On saving jobs…
Hillary Clinton: "I want us to have the biggest jobs program since WWII" https://t.co/dpK3GSo2HB #DebateNight https://t.co/kIsUnQ0FZ2
— CNN (@CNN) October 20, 2016
On giving jobs to Mexico…
CLINTON: "There is only one of us on this stage who has shipped jobs to Mexico and that's Donald." #debatenight
— Laura A. Harris (@LauraHarrisWFTS) October 20, 2016
On the experience of both candidates…
"On day I was in the Situation Room helping to bring Osama to justice you were hosting the Celebrity Apprentice." Clinton on Trump #debate
— Cory Booker (@CoryBooker) October 20, 2016
On the allegations that Donald Trump sexually assaulted several women…
Clinton now reciting litany of Trump's comments rebutting groping allegations… "Donald thinks belittling women makes him bigger."
— Emily Flitter (@FlitterOnFraud) October 20, 2016
On comparing foundations…
Clinton: I'd be happy to compare the Clinton Foundation with the Trump Foundation #Debate https://t.co/U0Qg7uv85A https://t.co/bIw3uI7Mdw
— CNN Politics (@CNNPolitics) October 20, 2016
On Trump’s Trump statue…
Clinton says Trump had a 6' statue made of himself. "I mean, who does that?" Hahaha
— Jacqueline Fell (@jackiefell) October 20, 2016
Clinton brought the sass with this final debate, and we’re feeling it.
both candidates are disasters! Hilary and her fake smile, Nasty woman! deep down you can tell she is a pretender. Trump on the other hand…. just being trump! Cruz and Sanders would have been better candidates!
Sad to see you’re a victim of misogynist misinformation. You think Ted Cruz, the gold standard guy, the carpet bomber, would be a better president? And Sanders was exposed by The NY Daily news. There’s nothing behind his rhetoric.
I suppose that makes Trump a better candidate for president, huh?
Clap for yasef Jay. We have seen the disaster that you are. This is about Trump and Clinton. You and Bernie Sanders can take several seats till 2021.
Its a dire situation I guess.
I wholeheartedly agree with you esv.jay. Bernie was the better choice.
Trump is the only disaster here. If a Bernie supporter can’t see how much of Bernie’s ideas Hilary has incorporated into her campaign since after the primaries, then they clearly haven’t been following. Hilary’s deep appreciation of the issues alone is awesome. Cruz is only but the grimmer intellectual version of Trump. And Bernie is voting Hilary come November..
“On day I was in the Situation Room helping to bring Osama to justice you were hosting the Celebrity Apprentice.” Clinton on Trump… OMG thats what I call (HDS: High Definition Shade)
Yes, thats correct, Hillary seems fake and well recited and she’s very desperate, don’t know if that’s a good thing here. After the last debate, polls said she Is less honest than Donald Trump