Democrat
Hillary Clinton and Republican
Donald Trump took to the stage on Monday to begin their first-ever presidential debate and immediately sparred over jobs, taxes, the Islamic State (IS), guns and the former secretary of state's undisclosed emails,
media reports said.
According to the latest CNN Poll of Polls, released on Monday, Clinton and Trump are neck-and-neck, at 44 per cent to 42 per cent, respectively.
Moderator Leslie Holt of NBC News opened the 90-minute debate at Hofstra University, Long Island, New York, with the first topic being "Achieving Prosperity", where the first question about putting money back into Americans' pockets and creating jobs was directed to Clinton, CNN reported.
Clinton, the first woman to represent a major US party in the presidential race, mentioned her granddaughter's birthday, and talked about everything from gender pay gaps, to paid family leave, to presidential temperament.
She started her speech by defending the idea of creating "an
economy for all" and stressed that she intends to do so "by having the wealthy pay their fair share",
EFE news reported.
"I also want to see more companies do profit sharing. If you help create the profits, you should be able to share in them, not just the executives at the top," she said, and stressed that "the central question in this election is really what kind of country we want to be in".
Clinton insisted she would work to achieve equal pay between men and women, paid paternity leave and debt-free college.
Clinton accused her rival for being one of the real estate tycoons who benefited from the economic crisis that hit the country in 2008.
Trump conceded the point saying, "It's called
business."
Clinton and Trump are neck-and-neck, at 44 per cent to 42 per cent, respectively.
On prosperity, taxes and jobs
On Trump's business practices
On Trump's tax returns and Clinton's emails
On the Islamic State
On police shootings
On gun control
On the 'birther' issue
On supporting the result of the elections
Clinton said, "Sometimes you win, sometimes you lose, but I certainly will support the outcome of this election."
Trump pointed that he would "... want to make America great again. We are a nation that is seriously troubled... If she wins, I will absolutely support it."
The debate is divided into 6 segments with 15 minutes given to each nominee. Two minutes will be allotted to answer a question asked by the moderator, two minutes to reply and the remaining time for the nominees to debate.
This is the 20th US presidential debate and is being organised by the
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