--- title: Presidential Debate: Watch Clinton, Trump Not Shake Hands description: The two refused to shake hands before Sunday's debate. canonical: https://time.com/4524398/second-presidential-debate-clinton-trump-handshake/ author: Daniel White article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2016-10-10T01:28:47.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-08-19T07:45:30.815Z article:section: Politics og:title: Watch Clinton and Trump Not Shake Hands og:description: The two declined to shake hands before Sunday's debate og:url: https://time.com/4524398/second-presidential-debate-clinton-trump-handshake/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltea9c29978f677ea9/6988a949fb4eac680788f69e/clinton-trump-handshake.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 2560 og:image:height: 1440 og:image:alt: TIMEPOL og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Watch Clinton and Trump Not Shake Hands twitter:description: The two declined to shake hands before Sunday's debate twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltea9c29978f677ea9/6988a949fb4eac680788f69e/clinton-trump-handshake.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Watch Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump Decline to Shake Hands at the Second Debate > Sponsored content. 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It explains the politics, personalities and power dynamics behind the headlines, three times a week. #### Where can I get analysis of Washington politics by email? D.C. Brief is TIME's free Washington politics newsletter, available at time.com/newsletters. It is written by a TIME senior correspondent who covers the capital full time. #### Who writes TIME's D.C. Brief? Philip Elliott, a senior correspondent at TIME, writes D.C. Brief. #### Is D.C. Brief free? Yes. D.C. Brief is free at time.com/newsletters. by [Daniel White](https://time.com/author/daniel-white/) ## Daniel White Oct 10, 2016 1:28 AM UTC  Republican U.S. presidential nominee Donald Trump and Democratic U.S. presidential nominee Hillary Clinton take the stage at the start of the second presidential debate at Washington University in St. Louis on Oct. 9, 2016. Republican U.S. presidential nominee Donald Trump and Democratic U.S. presidential nominee Hillary Clinton take the stage at the start of the second presidential debate at Washington University in St. Louis on Oct. 9, 2016. Rick Wilking—Reuters by [Daniel White](https://time.com/author/daniel-white/) ## Daniel White Oct 10, 2016 1:28 AM UTC When Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton [met Sunday to debate](http://time.com/4523324/second-presidential-debate-donald-trump-town-hall/?xid=homepage) they did not engage in the customary handshake between presidential candidates. Tension was high as the two appeared on stage at Washington University in St. Louis after lewd comments Trump made about women in 2005 were released on Friday. The Republican nominee’s poll numbers have taken a nose dive since the first debate between the two. Trump now [trails Clinton](http://time.com/4523324/second-presidential-debate-donald-trump-town-hall/?xid=homepage) in nearly every swing state. 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