This week, Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump met onstage at Hofstra University for the first of three highly-anticipated presidential debates.
Despite Trump's concerns about facing off against Monday Night Football—concerns which, contrary to Trump's claim, were not shared by NFL officials—the debate drew a record-breaking audience of 84 million television viewers.
All things considered, Trump probably would've been much happier if fewer people had tuned in.
In any event, both candidates faced daunting expectations—Clinton's were impossibly high, while Trump's were impossibly low—yet both somehow managed to defy them.
After getting off to a (supposedly) good start, Trump took Amerrica [sic] further and further down the rat hole of his beautiful mind—into "the cyber," so to speak.
Once there, Hillary did a little shimmy, and then baited him with a queen—invoking that time Trump fat-shamed a young Miss Universe winner, Alicia Machado.
And then she dropped the mic.
In the days (and late nights) since the debate, Trump has alternated between blaming everyone and everything for his loss, and claiming that he actually won—all (scientific) evidence to the contrary notwithstanding.
And, as if to prove that he can be "nastier than Hillary ever can be," Trump and his band of philandering surrogates have gone all-in on their attacks against Ms. Machado, and Hillary's marriage.
Surely this will help with Trump's female problem.
You don't have to take my word for it—call Sean Hannity.
Morning lineup:
Meet the Press: Former NYC Mayor Rudy Giuliani (9/11); Glenn Beck (The Blaze); Documentary Filmmaker Michael Moore; Roundtable: María Teresa Kumar (Voto Latino), Rich Lowry (National Review), Amy Walter (Cook Political Report) & Mark Halperin (Bloomberg Politics).
Face The Nation: Pre-empted for NFL coverage.
This Week: Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT); Former NYC Mayor Rudy Giuliani (9/11); Russian Panel: Former White House Counterterrorism Adviser Richard Clarke, Julia Ioffe (Politico Magazine), Former World Chess Champion Garry Kasparov & Rep. Adam Schiff (D-CA); Roundtable: Sara Fagen (CNBC), John Heilemann (Bloomberg Politics), Roland Martin (TV One), Jonathan Karl (ABC News) & Cokie Roberts (ABC News).
Fox News Sunday: New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie (R); Sen. Claire McCaskill (D-MO); Roundtable: Michael Needham (Heritage Action for America), Julie Pace (Associated Press), Republican Strategist Lisa Boothe & Bob Woodward (Washington Post).
State of the Union: Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT); Former NYC Mayor Rudy Giuliani (9/11); Roundtable: Rep. Ryan Zinke (R-MT), Neera Tanden (Center for American Progress), Rachel Campos-Duffy (LIBRE Initiative) & Progressive Activist Van Jones.
Evening lineup:
60 Minutes will feature: a report on the battle over oil and mineral resources in the Arctic Circle (preview); an interview with former Xerox exec Mary Quin, who survived a kidnapping by Islamic extremists in Yemen (preview); and, an interview with Nate Parker, director of the forthcoming film "Birth of a Nation" (preview).
Late night shows:
The Late Show with Stephen Colbert
Monday: Actress Mindy Kaling; Actor Gary Owen; Rock Band Sum 41.
Tuesday: Comic Cheri Oteri; Comedian Paul F. Tompkins; Singer-Songwriter Melissa Etheridge.
Wednesday: Actor Armie Hammer; Skier Lindsay Vonn; Conductor Gustavo Dudamel with the Simon Bolivar Symphony Orchestra.
Thursday: Actress Emily Blunt; Actor Gael Garcia Bernal; Musical Duo Phantogram.
Friday: Actress Diane Lane; Actress Aja Naomi King; Comedian Sebastian Maniscalco.
The Daily Show with Trevor Noah
Monday: Actor James Marsden; Tuesday: Ezra Klein (Vox); Wednesday: Director Mark Duplass; Thursday: NBA Player Carmelo Anthony.
Elsewhere...
Trump surrogate Jon Voight suggested that if African-Americans smarten up, they'll support Trump.
SEAN HANNITY (HOST): Have you been invited by the Trump people to do anything with them?
JON VOIGHT: Yes, I have done a couple of things. I went on a little tour with Dennis Prager and Hugh Hewitt and Sheriff David Clarke and Michael -- I trying to remember. Anyway, but we went on this little tour -- Mike Gallagher, who's the greatest.
HANNITY: I love Mike, he's awesome. No, Mike is awesome.
VOIGHT: But anyway we had a good time and we went from state to state, and talked to very enthusiastic, large crowds. But the thing is, you've got to get to the other folks. You've got to get to these folks. Like I think it's so important Donald Trump went to that black church and spoke to the black people directly. And if they can be educated they certainly will come over to the side of Donald Trump and the Republicans.
Meanwhile...
Speaking to a business group, Rudy Giuliani went off-script, and delivered some racially insensitive remarks.
Former Mayor Rudolph Giuliani was invited to a financial services trade group’s award dinner last week to speak about leadership—but instead delivered a political speech that strayed so far from that topic the group felt it necessary to apologize to its guests.
The remarks Giuliani made to the Commercial Finance Association Thursday have not been publicly reported. But an attendee told the Observer the crowd was "shocked" by Giuliani's comments and that some people began complaining about his speech almost immediately after it was over.
"Rudy talked about immigration and made a really, really inappropriate comment about the quote-unquote Mexicans in the kitchen at the Waldorf," the attendee said. "It was bad. You could hear a pin drop. I think he was looking for applause."
A second person in attendance also recalled a remark about Mexicans coming to the country to work illegally in kitchens.
Color me unsurprised.
– Trix