5 of the Most WTF Moments from the First Presidential Debate

The first presidential debate of 2016 was fierce, rambling, and sometimes downright strange. Here are five of the most WTF moments of Monday’s showdown.

Well, we’ve all survived the first presidential debate. It appears that both Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump made their way through, too, though with a few rhetorical punches thrown their way.

Just as we expected, there were some particularly crazy moments that surfaced during the evening, thanks in large part to Republican candidate Donald Trump. The unlikely presidential nominee has made his mark thanks to a style some might call “unfiltered”, while others call it “out and out racist”.

Trump went up against democratic nominee Hillary Clinton. Before the debate, numerous commentators remarked on the disparity between the public’s expectations for Trump versus those for Clinton.

This has been one of the most unbelievably insane elections in recent history (and definitely one of the craziest since Andrew Jackson was in office).

Here’s how it currently stands:

A former reality TV host and frankly sketchy businessman is now the Republican nominee. He’s variously promised to build a wall between the US and Mexico, questioned President Obama’s citizenship, and also said he would possibly date his daughter if he weren’t her father. Yes, that last one was supposed to be a joke by Trump, but it’s still a pretty creepy one.

A former senator and Secretary of State is running despite the apparent handicap of being a woman with ambitions. Clinton dares to have a female body, occasionally gets sick, and ages like a human being – all things that have been the subject of massive scrutiny in recent weeks.

We’ll see what gets picked up for further scrutiny after tonight’s debate, but here’s our quick take on the five most interesting and weirdest moments of tonight’s event.

Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton speaks during the Presidential Debate at Hofstra University (Photo by Win McNamee/Getty Images)

1.) Hillary said that “words matter”; Trump served us a plate of word salad. He came out with phrases such as “a very against police judge”, “he talk good”, and a seemingly unprovoked comment about “400-pound hackers”.

Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump gestures during the Presidential Debate at Hofstra University (Photo by Win McNamee/Getty Images)

2.) Trump, just blow your nose. JUST BLOW YOUR NOSE, MAN. He sniffled all throughout the debate, which is perhaps ironic given the recent laser-focus scrutiny much of the media has focused on Clinton’s bout with pneumonia. How much pundits will spin Trump’s sniffling and constant water-drinking remains to be seen, but it appeared to drive many online commentators crazy.

Moderator Lester Holt listens during the Presidential Debate at Hofstra University  (Photo by Pool/Getty Images)

3.) There were few questions about some of the biggest issues surrounding Clinton’s campaign. Moderator Lester Holt did not bring up the Clinton Foundation, Benghazi, or the now infamous email server. Whether or not you believe these would have been fair questions, their absence was unexpected. While it may have saved some of you playing the debate drinking game, it was puzzling nonetheless.

Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump speaks during the Presidential Debate at Hofstra University  (Photo by Win McNamee/Getty Images)

4.) Donald Trump outright claimed that he has better judgment and a more even temperament than Hillary Clinton. He even went so far as to say that “I have a winning temperament”. This was strange indeed for someone who constantly interrupted both his opponent and the debate moderator. Frequently, Trump’s prevarications caused Clinton to visibly react. She also rolled with the attacks, smiling as Trump made his point.

Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton (R) speaks as Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump (L) listens during the Presidential Debate at Hofstra University  (Photo by Drew Angerer/Getty Images)

5.) In general, the most WTF moment was the realization that Trump had apparently done little to no preparation for the event. In the leadup to the debate, commentators predicted that he would have done relatively little to prepare, while Clinton was likely studying like a senior cramming for the SATs. This didn’t seem to stop Trump from attempting to target her for her homework.

Said Clinton, “I think Donald just criticized me for preparing for this debate,” she said. “And yes, I did. And you know what else I prepared for? I prepared to be President. And that is a good thing.”

Overall, the general judgment seems to be that Clinton came out swinging. Trump, meanwhile, seemed ill-prepared and often contradicted himself. Despite this, Trump told CNN that he was happy with his performance. “It went better than I ever thought,” he said.

Meanwhile, the majority of Twitter, at least, has delivered its early verdict. On CNN, 18 of their 20 “Undecided” panel gave the win to Hillary as well. We’ll see how Trump takes these results in the coming days.