First presidential debate finds an audience in Regina

The gloves were off as Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump met in the first of three debates.

While the two candidates are vying for the presidency of the United States, there was some interest for the debate in Regina.

Karen Morley moved from Atlanta, Georgia to Regina five years ago. She said the debate didn’t sway her opinion.

“The first debate, so far, is not changing my mind. I’m a Hillary supporter and it has reinforced what I already think about her,” Morley said. “My fear is that the same is true for Trump supporters. He’s showing them his bluster and who he is and I don’t think he’s changing any minds either.”

Morley also said she felt Hillary was more specific in her policies than Trump was.

Morley said it’s important Canadians pay attention to the presidential race.

“For one thing NAFTA. For another thing, the U.S. economy plays a big part in Canadian economics as well as European economics so, from what I understand, if Trump gets in we’re in for a huge economic crash. So, from my perspective, everyone in Canada should be concerned about that.”

While most watching the debate may have watched it in their homes, 10 students from the Johnson-Shoyama Graduate School of Public Policy watched the debate at the Owl.

Chris Belhumeur is a first year student at the school and said the debate has been highly entertaining.

“I’ve been laughing out loud quite a bit, both at jokes that we make about Hillary and Donald Trump’s constant sort of mudslinging which is hilarious,” Belhumeur said.

“He’s not interested in the facts very much and Hillary is doing her best to have some witty retorts.”

Belhumeur also said Trump was trying to stay away from the current racial tensions in the U.S. in the debate, and Hillary called him out on it.

“He tried to stay away from that in his response but I think he was pulled out from under the rug because Hillary came back and called him out for a number of racist remarks and insinuations that he has made over his campaign.”

Belhumeur said he and the other students will be tuning into the next debate as well.

“We’re going to follow it closely as public policy students and we hope that other people do as well. Stay informed and stay on top of the issues, even if it is the American presidential election.”

The next debate is set to take place on Oct. 9.