Donald Trump "choked" during Monday night's presidential debate, political commentator Bill Kristol wrote afterward.
Kristol, editor of The Weekly Standard, wrote that Trump fared well in the opening segment of the debate held at Hofstra University that covered trade deals and job creation.
But then Democrat Hillary Clinton went on the offensive, kept an even keel, and put Trump in a bad position the rest of the night, Kristol wrote.
"After the first 15 minutes, Trump didn't take advantage of his ability to box Clinton in as a defender of the status quo," Kristol wrote.
"Instead, she made her arguments. She isn't great at that — her little mini-speeches are dull and canned. But Trump never was able to get back on the offensive all night, and couldn't resist defending himself against every charge, often unconvincingly, rather than prosecuting the simple case against Hillary that she won't change anything and will keep the country on the wrong track.
"Clinton mostly seemed calm and collected and more than held her own for the rest of the evening."
Kristol then drew his final conclusion about the first of three debates: "I'm not positive Hillary actually won the debate. But I'm sure Trump lost it. He choked."
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