The Arab world’s reaction to the US presidential debate

The Arab world’s twittersphere came to life when Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump went head to head with his Democratic counterpart Hillary Clinton in the first presidential debate of the 2016 elections.

The two candidates exchanged jibes throughout the night, with each not holding back when it came to dismissing the other. Much of the world’s reactions were negative toward the debate, and others were more pro-Hillary.

Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump’s statements stirred uproar on social media. Prominent Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi said on Twitter: “Trump repeated his stupid idea of making Saudi Arabia and another country pay the price for what he described as protecting them. This is negativity. However, he criticized Clinton because the deal with Iran did not include Yemen.”

In another tweet, Khashoggi commented on the debate in general and said the presidential sparring contest “between Trump and Clinton reminded me of the time when Arabs stayed up to watch the debate among presidential candidates in Egypt five years ago.”

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