Out of all the “whoa, what? huh?” things Democratic and Republican nominees Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump said during the debate tonight, both candidates’ comments on race and the police came under additional scrutiny. Given the terrifying state of police brutality right now and for entirely too long before that, anything either candidate said was bound to carry more weight than usual. And oh were things said.
In short, Clinton commented about how race remains “a significant challenge” and noted that the criminal justice system treats minorities differently. Trump used his time to keep mentioning “law and order,” while he also defended stop-and-frisk (which was proven ineffective and unconstitutional in New York), and saying, “African-Americans and Hispanics are living in hell. You walk down the streets, you get shot.”
In short, it was bizarre. Here are a few tweets that aimed to make sense, or at least much fun, of how weird things really got.
“Let’s talk about race”
Moderator: Let’s talk about race.
Donald: I hate Blacks and hispanics. #debates pic.twitter.com/SHGy88aWQe— Raquel Willis (@RaquelWillis_) September 27, 2016
“Nothing”
lester: ok but we’re talking about race what do u have to say about race
trump: nothing. i’ve met black people though. good dudes. #debates— Lane Moore (@hellolanemoore) September 27, 2016
*Grabs popcorn*
“Now we’re going to talk about race.” #debates pic.twitter.com/vplad6Wd8P
— Josh Scorcher (@joshscorcher) September 27, 2016
Bringing up the past
#HillaryClinton talking about race when her husband signed bill to incarcerate black men in the 90s#Debates2016 #debates #debatenight
— Wayne Dupree | ? (@WayneDupreeShow) September 27, 2016
On episodes of Law & Order
lester: how will you heal the racial divide?
trump: well one time i saw an episode of Law & Order. what a great show#debatenight #debates
— Lane Moore (@hellolanemoore) September 27, 2016
On sounding smart
Clinton sounds #smart Trump sounds like a #richbusinessman Cant believe he’s in this race #Debates
— Chelsea Peretti (@chelseaperetti) September 27, 2016
Then came the interruptions…
Holt: This conversation is about race, Mr. Trump if I c-
Trump: [interrupts a black man]
— Hayes Brown (@HayesBrown) September 27, 2016
Let’s race
Holt: “Let’s talk about race.”
Trump: “I’ll race you right now. I’m the fastest guy I know. Look at my legs. Tremendous.”#debatenight— Nick Ross (@NickBossRoss) September 27, 2016
Always talking about his clubs
HOLT: can you talk about the state of race in america?
TRUMP: once I owned a club where we didn’t kick out negroes
— Saladin Ahmed (@saladinahmed) September 27, 2016
Updating Trump’s operating system
they haven’t updated trump’s operating system to handle talking about race dude is glitching
— L.A.S. (@SartoriallyInc) September 27, 2016
Trump pointed a lot of fingers
To recap: Trump just said illegal immigrants create gangs with illegal guns who then create race issues
— Alexandra Svokos (@asvokos) September 27, 2016
Pleasant dreams, folks.
Original by: Lane Moore