Donald J. Trump’s campaign appeared to be crumbling as he entered the second presidential debate against Hillary Clinton, with Republicans withdrawing support for his candidacy after the disclosure of a vulgar recording that showed him bragging about sexual assault. Facing a barrage of tough questions, the Republican nominee managed to scrape through, evading questions, fabricating answers and attacking his opponent in deeply personal terms.

While expectations for Mr. Trump were low, many commentators and critics thought that he exceeded them and allayed concerns among supporters that his candidacy was finished.

Here is a sampling of the post-debate reaction:

“He improved, exceeded expectations, decisively won several exchanges. She could have landed a death blow tonight and did not.”

Guy Benson, political editor at the conservative website Townhall

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“I may not care for Trump, but he beat Hillary tonight fair and square even with Martha Raddatz trying to defeat him.”