Donald Trump Says He Might "Hit Hillary Harder" Next Time

Donald Trump has vowed that he'll be taking a different approach in the next debate.

US presidential candidates Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton faced off yesterday in the first of three debates in the lead up to the election. Speaking to Fox News, Trump said he may up the attack during the next debate, saying, "I may hit her harder in certain ways".

Research firm Nielsen estimates 81.4 million Americans were watching the debate unfold at home. Rigorous surveys will become available in the coming days. However, according to CNN's David Gergen: Clinton crushed Trump in this round.

"She rolled out a long list of indictments against Donald Trump, often damaging. By contrast, he came in unprepared, had nothing fresh to say, and increasingly gave way to rants. As the evening ended, the media buried him in criticisms."

Clinton delivered a finishing blow by reminding viewers that Trump has previously referred to women as "pigs, slobs and dogs".

She also spoke of his attacks against Alicia Machado - a beauty contestant - who he called "Miss Piggy" and "the housekeeper because she's Latino".

Alicia Machado has spoken out in a video.

Trump says he resisted the urge to bite back after being criticised for his treatment of women, saying:

"I was going to hit her with her husband's women. And I decided I shouldn't do it because her daughter was in the room."

Oh, also, Clinton was interrupted by Trump 51 times throughout the entire debate. 51 times!

There are two debates remaining and the next one is scheduled for October 9th.

Photo: YouTube - Fox News