Coming into Sunday evening’s debate, the question was whether another poor performance by Donald Trump would mark the total collapse of his campaign—and if that had been the only standard, his performance must be judged a huge success. But it’s hard to imagine that the evening will be remembered for anything other than the discussion of both Trump and Bill Clinton’s sexual history as well as for the GOP candidate’s unprecedented threat to jail his opponent if he wins.

The good news for Trump was that after a shaky start devoted to the discussion about the tape containing his boasts of sexual assault, he seemed to gain confidence. The act of trying to turn the tables on Clinton, in which he brought up her husband’s conduct—charges that were accentuated by the presence of four Clinton accusers present in the audience at Trump’s invitation—and her attacks on those women, seemed to energize the billionaire. At times, he seemed very much like the person who seemed to have all the momentum on his side when Clinton appeared to have as much trouble explaining her email scandals or articulating anything more than stale liberal talking points.