Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton performed better than her Republican rival Donald Trump in the second United States presidential debate on Sunday night (local time), according to a CNN/ORC poll of viewers. The survey of debate watchers found that Clinton had 57% of the viewers' votes over Trump's 34% – a drop in support for Clinton, who had 62% of viewers' votes after the first presidential debate on September 26.

Clinton and Trump faced off on Sunday night (local time) in what CNN described as the "nastiest debate in presidential history". Republican Trump was on the defensive from the get-go, making an appearance with women who had accused former US president Bill Clinton – Hillary's husband – of sexual abuse.

Simultaneously, Trump dismissed as "locker room talk" the lewd remarks he had made about women in 2005, which surfaced in a video on Friday. "It's just words, folks," he said. At least 33 Republicans withdrew their vote for Trump after his comments went public. On Saturday, he had refused to quit the presidential race the despite growing calls for him to pull out. Referring to the tape, Clinton said, "This is who Donald Trump is, but the question our country must answer is 'this is not who we are'."

The second US presidential debate was being held at Washington University in St Louis, Missouri.

Trump emphasised on revising the tax code to decrease levies on the American rich and accused his Democratic rival of "raising your taxes too high". Clinton, on the other hand, accused Trump of not paying federal income taxes and also brought up Russia facilitating hacks to influence the presidential contest.

Trump then took on Clinton's involvement in West Asia, saying "Look at what she did in Libya with Gaddafi. Gaddafi's out, it's a mess." According to The Guardian, he differed from his stance on this in 2011, when he had supported the US' intervention in the conflict. He also reiterated his claim that Clinton was to blame for the emergence of the Islamic State group in Iraq. He said the withdrawal of American troops from the country had led to the group's formation, another deviation from an earlier stance on the matter.

Clinton listed her policy achievements, highlighting her efforts towards rebuilding New York after the September 11, 2001, attacks, bringing in health coverage for children and healthcare for the national guard, among others. "For 30 years, I've produced results," she said.

The Democrat and Republican nominees strayed from tradition and did not shake hands before the debate began. They did after it ended though, assuming a more cordial approach after an audience member asked the two to compliment each other.