
The third and final US presidential debate between Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton took place Wednesday night, and once again it was an insult-laden bilious grief pit.
There were a few upsides among Trump's attempts to destabilise a democracy and his accusations that Clinton (who played a large role in the Iran nuclear deal) could start a nuclear conflict with Russia, including his accidental endorsement of her.
Bernie Sanders must have been watching the debate, thinking he at least offered Clinton a decent battle of discourse and erudite counterpoints, rather than, well, this:
*Nobody* could look at this and think it makes sense: Trump's full answer on Syria, Aleppo and Assad #debate… https://t.co/aWphjnnWYp— Claire Phipps (@Claire Phipps) 1476936457
Prior to the debate his Twitter account was in scintillating form, flawlessly pivoting a Paul Ryan insult-cum-warning into a fundraising pitch for the Democratic party:
I heard what @SpeakerRyan said: If the GOP loses the Senate, I'll be the Budget chairman. Sounds like a good idea. https://t.co/9EFfzgimCX— Bernie Sanders (@Bernie Sanders) 1476901125
His personal account and his campaign account continued to berate the GOP candidate and his party alike, with a series of withering putdowns:
Almost everybody understands that we cannot have a vibrant democracy with billionaires buying elections.— Bernie Sanders (@Bernie Sanders) 1476893520
We simply cannot turn back the clock by electing a president whose anti-immigrant rants have slurred Mexicans as "rapists" and "criminals."— Bernie Sanders (@Bernie Sanders) 1476926625
Donald Trump’s vision for America: tax breaks for billionaires and large corporations, poverty wages for working families. #debatenight— Bernie Sanders (@Bernie Sanders) 1476927693
If Trump was really concerned about companies going abroad, maybe he would make his ties in the United States, not China. #debatenight— Bernie Sanders (@Bernie Sanders) 1476927829
Where does the steel Trump used to construct his hotels come from? Not Pennsylvania, Ohio or Wisconsin. It came from China. #debatenight— Bernie Sanders (@Bernie Sanders) 1476928264
No major U.S. company has filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection more than Trump’s casino empire in the last 30 years. #debatenight— Bernie Sanders (@Bernie Sanders) 1476928396
Post debate polls declared Hillary Clinton the winner for the third time in a row, and 51 per cent of Republican viewers said that both candidates should accept the result of the election - something Trump staggeringly refused to do.
Maybe it's because he's feeling the Bern?
Picture: Natalie Behring/Getty Images