David Jackson

USA TODAY

HEMPSTEAD, N.Y. — Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump went after each other early and often during Monday's opening debate, arguing over race, gender, trade, government regulation, and whose economic approach would best generate growth and job creation.

"Donald, I know you live in your own reality," Clinton said during the highly anticipated showdown at Hofstra University, saying the New York businessman constantly tells untruths, promotes "trickle down" economics that benefits the wealthy, and dabbles in racism and sexism.

The first debate of the general election campaign saw Clinton needle Trump throughout, as she called him by him first name and noted his inconsistent policy statements and claims. He pushed back, often raising his voice and sniffing. One focus group of undecided voters led by Republican pollster Frank Luntz showed Clinton the winner.

After the debate, Trump made an unprecedented appearance in the "spin room," where campaign officials try to convince reporters that their candidate won.

Trump said the "holier than thou" ex-secretary of State, senator, and first lady is a "typical politician" who has pushed bad policies for 30 years — particularly in trade — and wants to increase taxes and regulations on businesses that are already struggling to survive.

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"Hillary has experience, but it's bad experience," Trump said during the first of three scheduled debates with his Democratic rival.

Issues of race and gender drew some of the many sharp exchanges in what may be the most watched political debate in U.S. history.

Trump avoided explaining why he suddenly announced this month he now believes President Obama was born in Hawaii, after years of suggesting otherwise. He again accused Clinton partisans of spreading "birtherism" during the 2008 Democratic primaries, though no evidence ties it directly to her or her campaign. Officials from the 2008 Clinton campaign said they did not spread the birther claim that year.

Clinton said Trump built his political career by promoting the "racist lie" that Obama was not an American citizen. Noting that a Trump company was sued for housing discrimination back in the 1970s, "So he has a long record of engaging in racist behavior," Clinton said.

Trump answered by saying the Justice Department sued numerous companies for racial discrimination at the time.

Asked about the recent spate of police shootings and racial unrest, Clinton said, "we have to restore trust between communities and the police," and Trump does not understand the challenges facing cities. Trump said "we need law and order in our country," and that crime falls heavily on African-American and Hispanic families.

At another point, Trump did not retract previous comments that Clinton lacks "the look" and "the stamina" to be president. In a possible reference to her health, Trump said "I don't believe Hillary has the stamina" to endure the burdens of the presidency.

Clinton replied that when Trump travels to more than 100 countries and engages in marathon testimony to congressional committees, as she has done over the years, then "he can talk to me about stamina."

Citing Trump's past references to looks, Clinton said "this is a man who calls women pigs, slobs, and dogs."

Trump hits Clinton on 'stamina,' Clinton blasts Trump as a sexist

In another one of the rough exchanges that punctuated the evening, Clinton joked that "I have a feeling that by the end of this evening I'm gonna be blamed for everything." Trump shot back, "why not?"

Replied Clinton: "Join the debate by saying more crazy things."

Taking an aggressive approach to her Republican opponent, Clinton hammered Trump for refusing to release his personal tax returns, as has been standard for presidential candidates for four decades. "There's something he's hiding," Clinton said, suggesting it might be that he is not as wealthy as he claims, hasn't given much to charity, or in some years hasn't paid any taxes at all.

Clinton accused Trump of "rooting" for the housing crisis a decade ago, ignoring the threat of climate change, and failing to pay contractors on various projects he has sponsored. Trump responded by saying, "that's called business."

Playing defense, Trump said he won't release his taxes because they are are under audit, and said his business practices have been legal. He tried to shift the attack by hitting Clinton over her use of private email as secretary of State. "That was not a mistake," he said. "That was done purposely."

When the former first lady said "I think my husband did a pretty good in the 1990s," Trump criticized former President Bill Clinton for backing the North American Free Trade Agreement with Mexico and Canada, claiming it has drained the United States of manufacturing jobs.

"I can bring back jobs," Trump told Clinton at one point. "You can't bring back jobs."

The two candidate also clashed over foreign policy.

Clinton said Trump has constantly "insulted Muslims," undermining U.S. relations with Muslim majority nations and making it harder to build a common defense against extremist groups. She mocked Trump for claiming he has always opposed the Iraq War, saying "I hope the fact checkers are turning up the volume."

Trump hit the former secretary of State and Obama for creating a "mess" in the Middle East, including the Iran nuclear deal he has frequently denounced.

"I have much better judgment than she has," Trump said.

Trump touts 'winning' temperament, calls it his 'strongest asset'

Trump, who interrupted Clinton throughout the debate and raised his voice often, claimed that his temperament was far better than Clinton's.

Before the debate started, Clinton aides demanded that reporters call out Trump for a series of lies on the stump, and to avoid grading the first-time candidate's debate performance "on a curve"; the Trump team accused the Democrats of "gaming the refs," and said they should worry about their own nominee.

“I’m just surprised that a campaign manager would try to lower expectations that dramatically for his own candidate," Trump campaign manager Kellyanne Conway said on NBC's Today show.

Clinton campaign manager Robby Mook, also on NBC, said "we don’t want Donald Trump’s lies and distortions to be a distraction," and added: "What we don’t want to have is some kind of double standard where Donald Trump can get the ‘most improved award,’ but Hillary Clinton is getting judged on the fine points of policy.”

Clinton herself, citing recent news reports, tweeted to her followers Monday that "Trump told 31 outright lies just last week. Keep him honest at tonight's debate."

The two candidates are nearly tied in recent polls, and each faced unique challenges in the first of three scheduled presidential debates.

The novice candidate had never debated at this level before Monday. While Trump profited from a string of Republican debates during the GOP primaries, he was always on stage with at least three other rivals. The one-on-one debate with Clinton required Trump to speak for longer periods of time and face attacks from a single opponent.

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