Presidential debate: Hillary Clinton triumphs over Donald Trump in opinion polls after first televised clash

Early opinion polls suggest Democrat triumphed in first televised clash with opponent

For months, pundits have said the US presidential race is too close to call, but one candidate appeared to emerge a clear victor after the first televised debate.

Hillary Clinton has topped the first major opinion poll of Americans’ responses to the politicians’ first face-to-face clash, with other smaller-scale survey's also suggesting the Democrat got the better of her opponent.

A poll for CNN found 62 per cent of viewers thought Ms Clinton won the debate at Hofstra University, outside New York, compared to just 27 per cent who said the same of Donald Trump.

According to a separate poll, for Public Policy Polling, 51 per cent of voters said the Democrat defeated her opponent, compared to 40 per cent for the Republican.

And two focus groups in swing states - one by CNN with undecided voters in Florida and another by GOP pollster Frank Lutz in Pennsylvania, both appeared to hand convincing wins to Ms Clinton.

The hotly anticipated debate - watched by an estimated 100 million people - was the first time the politicians had gone head-to-head and could be a defining moment in the build-up to election day on 8 November.

It saw animated clashes as Ms Clinton accused Mr Trump of having something, citing his refusal to publish his tax returns. She said: “You've got to ask yourself, why won't he release his tax returns? And I think there may be a couple of reasons. First, maybe he's not as rich as he says he is.

“Second, maybe he's not as charitable as he claims to be. Third, we don't know all of his business dealings but we have been told, through investigative reporting, that he owes about $650 million to Wall Street and foreign banks.

“Or maybe he doesn't want the American people, all of you watching tonight, to know that he's paid nothing in federal taxes because the only years that anybody has ever seen were a couple of years when had he to turn them over to state authorities when he was trying to get a casino license and they showed he didn't pay any federal income tax…”

At which point, Mr Trump interjected: “That makes me smart”. He retorted: “I will release my tax returns, against my lawyer's wishes, when she releases her 33,000 e-mails that have been deleted.”

Ms Clinton’s use of a private email server has been an undermining factor throughout her campaign, with Mr Trump using it to justify the ‘Crooked Clinton’ moniker he deplys for his rival.

The Democrat also pushed Mr Trump on why he had been declared bankrupt on multiple occasions given his claim to be a competent businessman, while she also accused him of having misogynistic attitudes towards women.

Mr Trump claimed in return that she did not have enough vision or capability to ensure Americans' safety at an international or domestic level.

The Secretary of State will also hope her accusations of racism against Mr Trump will also have resonated with voters.

She did so after he repeated his false accusation that her failed 2008 presidential campaign against Mr Obama had initiated the so-called “birther” issue.

“Nobody was pressing it, nobody was caring much about it…I was the one that got him to produce the birth certificate and I think I did a good job,” he said.

Ms Clinton replied: “He has really started his political activity based on this racist lie that our first black president was not an American citizen.

"There was absolutely no evidence for it. But he persisted. He persisted year after year."

However, while the initial polls indicated Ms Clinton may have established an advantage, more detailed analysis and polling over the coming days will offer a more complete picture.

Two further televised debates are due to take place, on October 9 and October 19.