A debate watch party at Henry Ford College.

DEARBORN — “I have a much better temperament than she does.”

That sentence uttered by Republican candidate Donald Trump during the first presidential debate with Democrat Hillary Clinton caused an initially mundane audience at a watch party to burst into laughter.

Hosted by Take on Hate and ACCESS at Henry Ford College, local students, faculty and members of the community gathered to watch a live stream of the event on Monday evening.

Missing in the conference room was the robust energy one would expect at these types of gatherings–perhaps signaling a lukewarm reception for the candidates themselves.

Asha Noor, advocacy and engagement specialist for Take on Hate, reminded attendees that the event was a non-partisan one. Because ACCESS is a 501c3 non-profit organization, it is not legally able to endorse a candidate.

“Our goal is to make sure voters are informed so they can make their own choices,” Noor said.

Noor stated that no clothing or material advocating for a candidate would be permitted–perhaps in case a bold student were to arrive wearing a Trump sticker. Or maybe it was a warning to those intending on pulling out their #ImWithHer t-shirts. But surely enough, neither incident happened.

As Clinton and Trump squabbled through talking points that included trade deals, tax cuts, race relations and defeating ISIS, it became evident that the debate would go down in the books as a notorious one.

“I felt like this debate was unlike anything we’ve ever seen,” said Mugeeth Mousawi after the event. “Hillary really stepped up her game. She did great. Donald Trump seemed like he was squirming mid-way through and towards the end.”

Mousawi told The AANews that he had come to the event with a likely probability of voting for Clinton. He said the outcome of the debate all the more solidified his stance.

“It just seemed like it was a big fiasco for him,” Mousawi said. “I felt like there’s a lot of times where he tried to make a point, but he couldn’t make it happen for some reason. I came here voting for Hillary and that has not changed. Just because Trump is very unprofessional.”

That perception of Trump seemed to be widely shared by the attendees, who were primarily Arab and African American students. Many of them were Muslims. Viewers laughed, gasped and even cringed at many of Trump’s talking points.

Other than one moment when Trump blatantly suggested Clinton release her 33,000 infamous deleted emails, it seemed Trump was perceived as nothing more than a clown–there to provide entertainment to what otherwise could’ve been an informative debate.

Whether Trump is winning or losing at the polls, it is likely he was the main draw for the record-breaking 81.4 million viewers who tuned in for the debate.

But local students who were expecting more policy talk told The AANews that form of reality television would not bode well at the White House.

“I felt that both candidates were badgering each other as if they were little kids,” said Fatima-Rian Din. “I wish they were tackling issues that most U.S. residents were hoping to get answers about. I didn’t necessarily enjoy the debate. I felt that it was more like a circus than it was a debate.”

Din said that for the remaining two debates, she hopes the candidates choose to focus more on issues stifling residents, rather than use it as a platform to rip apart each other’s character.

“I felt like even before I came to watch the debate that I probably wouldn’t change who it was I was going to vote for,” Din said. “At the same time, given those things didn’t change, it wasn’t as informative as I wanted it to be. That was the one expectation that I had and that didn’t get fulfilled.”

Dearborn resident Mariam Cheban, a Trump supporter, said she still plans to vote for him despite his poor performance during the debate. 

“He did so bad,” Cheban said. “But I’m still voting for him. He’s new in the system. I’m with the old being out. Clinton’s team hasn’t done anything. If she’s going to be in the White House for another four years, it will be more of the same thing.”

Cheban defended Trump’s demeanor, stating that he’s perhaps not as polished or seasoned as Clinton, who came off calm and collected during the debate. She added that Muslims should not be too worried about his perception of
Islam.

“I don’t think he would do anything to Muslims,” Cheban said. “He has to obey the Constitution. We aren’t that weak. He can’t put us in a bag and throw us out.  We have a strong and educated community who knows how to defend its rights. The Muslims have to work with him. The Muslims have to work with everyone to be united.”

After the debate, local comedian Amer Zahr told The AANews that under no circumstance should the Arab community back Trump, but also added that he’s not supporting Clinton, either.

“Obviously we can’t vote for Trump because of his politics,” Zahr said. “I believe that we went out and supported Bernie Sanders very strongly mainly because of his stances on Palestine and his stance against militarism in the Middle-East. Hillary has been terrible on both of those issues.”

Zahr credited Clinton for attempting to appeal to Sanders’ supporters in the last few months, addressing issues that were at the top of his platform. However, he feels that she hasn’t made as strong as an effort with the Arab community.

“While other people might have gotten what they wanted out of the Bernie Sanders movement as far as Hillary is concerned, we clearly didn’t,” Zahr said. 

To her credit, Clinton has staffed Arab Americans in her Michigan campaign. Earlier this month, she reached out to The AANews to clarify that she is in favor of a two-state solution in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. 

But that’s still not striking a chord for many–especially after both candidates had recently met with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

“We have to be careful not to give up our political capital and just vote for her for no reason,” Zahr said. “I can’t ask our community to support Hillary Clinton until she gets better on our issues; and until now, she hasn’t shown that at all.”