‘I Have a Feeling of Hatred in My Heart Toward Hillary’

Sunday night’s second presidential debate, held at Washington University in St. Louis, was watched by families around the nation — some on the edge of their seats even prior to its start.

Moms and dads had already decided what kind of performance Trump needed to turn in based on the drama of the past few days — Friday’s leak of the already-infamous “Access Hollywood” tape, and Trump’s pre-debate news conference featuring four women who count themselves as victims of the Clinton machine.

“Trump looked genuinely hurt over the things he said in the past,” said Rhode Island Army veteran Matthew Monahan, 25.

“All I can say before the debate begins is that Trump is going to need to go scorched earth,” one Lubbock, Texas, husband and father of two teens told LifeZette.

“I don’t blame him,” he continued, “but I am very much disliking the turn this race has taken, right into the gutter. Know who I blame? Bill Clinton — he forever lowered the discourse of this country when he was its leader.”

Archbishop Council Nedd II, rector of St. Alban’s Anglican Church in Pine Grove Mills, Pennsylvania, weighed in on Trump’s pre-debate press conference, saying, “By bringing these women into the debate and trying to draw attention to Clinton’s past, he is only opening himself up to more scrutiny.”

One New Mexico wife and mother said, “I hate to say it because it is not a nice feeling, but I have a feeling of hatred in my heart for Hillary Clinton. She seems to yet again be getting away with murder, as Benghazi, the emails, and everything else is lost in stupid things Trump said years ago.”

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“And not one major news outlet will hold her feet to the fire,” she noted. “Look who is moderating — two liberals. How fair is that?”

Clinton said on stage that the Trump tapes had lowered the American conversation when it comes to children. “We need to make it clear to our children that our country is great because we are good,” said Clinton.

“That is rich,” commented one Boston-area father of two afterward. “From someone who is perhaps the antithesis of good — she is selling snake oil, and too much of America is buying it.”

Of his video tape, Trump again apologized in the opening minutes of the debate, but urged the public to remember more important issues in the world. “I’m not proud of it [his comments from 11 years ago] … but with ISIS chopping off heads, drowning people in steel cages … this is like medieval times,” he said of radical Islamic terror.

“I was embarrassed by it,” Trump also said of his comments 11 years ago, when Anderson Cooper pressed him on the leaked tape yet again.

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“He looked genuinely hurt over the things he said,” Rhode Island Army veteran Matthew Monahan, 25, said.

Trump then quickly pivoted to the issues America cares about, such as health care, the Iran deal — which he called a “one-sided transaction” — a massive trade deficit, and the struggle of the inner cities.

Nedd noticed favoritism in the evening’s moderators. “The moderators hammered Trump about the video, but they didn’t open up the debate with questions about WikiLeaks.”

The topic soon moved to Clinton’s 33,000 deleted emails.

“He is rattling her,” the Boston father said of Trump’s strong and condemnatory email comments. “Clinton is so used to hiding her lies, she doesn’t know how to respond when they’re brought out in the open.”

Minutes later, when talking national defense, Trump said what so many want Clinton and the Obama administration to acknowledge. “Radical Islamic terror — before you solve it, you have to say the name,” Trump told the crowd.

Related: Trump: Hillary Should ‘Be in Jail’

“Yes!” the New Mexico mother said in response. “I feel like a clarifying wind just blew through. And her answer is Muhammad Ali and ‘demagogic rhetoric’? Talk about not responding to the issue.”

Viewers also noted subtle debate tactics at play. “Every time she starts to answer, she walks into Trump’s space. Very calculating,” noted Hampton, Iowa, trucker John Brubaker, 55.

The topic turned to the recent revelations that Clinton believes “you need both a public and private position on certain issues” as a legislator, according to an email leaked by WikiLeaks days ago. Clinton brought up an Abraham Lincoln movie as a wobbly and eyebrow-raising defense — in essence, Lincoln did it first.

“Will Hillary get away with her answer about having public and private positions? I’m not buying it,” said veteran Monahan.

By 10:15 p.m., many viewers were infuriated with the moderating. “Why is Martha Raddatz educating Trump on why military leaders might broadcast their plans?” said Carole Purcell, 52, of Columbia, Maryland. “And, they are cheating Trump of precious debate time. They are doing a terrible job.”

“She [Clinton] looks like she is not happy with the debate,” Purcell also noted.

Clinton brought up an Abraham Lincoln movie as a wobbly and eyebrow-raising defense to having public and private positions — in essence, Lincoln did it first.

“I would call this a net gain for Trump,” said the Boston dad at the end of the debate. “And it’s about time someone made Clinton that uncomfortable.”

Monahan thinks Trump has what it takes to move America in the right direction. “Donald Trump’s pro-constitutional views on the Second Amendment would continue to ensure the American family affordable safety, protection, and peace of mind against the threat of domestic terrorism and criminals alike.”

Nedd said at the conclusion of the debate, “Trump didn’t lose this debate, but he didn’t do what was necessary to win the undecideds or to get people to switch sides.”

Iowan Brubaker said after the debate, “Bill Clinton will not leave the stage. If he stays any longer the custodians are going to ask him to get the lights when he leaves!”

Perhaps a young college student in Madison, Wisconsin, expressed what many people have been feeling this election year — and he’s voting for the first time this fall: “I’m kind of annoyed that the first time I get to vote, it’s for one of these people, and my first [presidential] debates seem like middle-school arguments.”