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Trump and Clinton refuse to shake hands at the start of the debate

And this is just the beginning.

Andrew Couts

Updated on May 25 2021 8:20 pm CDT

Screenshot via NBC News/YouTube

You could cut the tension with a knife.

Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton refused to shake hands upon entering the stage for the second presidential debate Sunday night, bucking tradition amid an ongoing controversy over leaked audio in which Trump describes sexually assaulting women.

CBS News

The lack of a handshake immediately reverberated around the debate hall and online.

LOUD gasp goes through the #debate press center as @realDonaldTrump and @HillaryClinton skip the traditional handshake. #ItIsOn
— Celeste Katz Marston (@CelesteKatzNYC) October 10, 2016

THE NON-HANDSHAKE HEARD AROUND THE WORLD
— Miriam Elder (@MiriamElder) October 10, 2016

Wow! No handshake between Trump and Clinton.
— Nicholas Kristof (@NickKristof) October 10, 2016

And this was, literally, only the beginning.

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Andrew Couts

Andrew Couts is the former editor of Layer 8, a section dedicated to the intersection of the Internet and the state—and the gaps in between. Prior to the Daily Dot, Couts served as features editor and features writer for Digital Trends, associate editor of TheWeek.com, and associate editor at Maxim magazine. When he’s not working, Couts can be found hiking with his German shepherds or blasting around on motorcycles.