Spotlight: Scandal-riven U.S. presidential election shames Uncle Sam abroad

BEIJING, Nov. 3  -- U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry admitted this week that the U.S. presidential campaign has been "downright embarrassing."

"I must tell you bluntly. This election has been difficult for our country's perception abroad," he told an event with Mayor of London Sadiq Khan during a visit to Britain earlier this week.

"There are moments when it is downright embarrassing. There are times when it steps out of any norm that I've known -- and I ran for president in 2004," Kerry said.

"I could never imagine debates that were not focused on real issues, so it's been a real change."

Smeared with sex, corruption, scandals and personal attacks, the race for the White Housethis year has turned increasingly disordered and bottomless.

Appearing before supporters at a Wednesday rally in Pensacola, Florida, Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump told a crowd about his "plan to end government corruption."

"We're only left with one person, crooked Hillary Clinton. We're going to win. We're going to win," the New York real estate billionaire claimed.

After the release of a 2005 audio tape about his propensity for "groping women" and the emergence of groping allegations by several women, Trump has been reeling for weeks in his campaign for the White House.

However, a renewed FBI review of Democratic presidential candidate Clinton's use of a private email server as secretary of state has helped Trump narrow the race and drew public doubts about Clinton's trustworthiness.

Despite Clinton's front runner position in most forecasts, a Tuesday ABC News/Washington Post tracking poll gave Trump a narrow lead.

Last month, WikiLeaks started to release thousands of hacked emails of Clinton's campaign chairman, John Podesta. The emails exposed campaign infighting and raised ethical questions about her family's charitable foundation.

Anthony Weiner, a former New York congressman and husband of Clinton aide Huma Abedin, had already been shamed in a cluster of sexting scandals. However, when the FBI opened an investigation into his suspected sending of indecent videos to a 15-year-old girl, the bureau found out emails that FBI Director James Comey said seem related to an already closed email probe on Clinton.

Jewel Mathewson from Pennsylvania told Xinhua that it is "a heartbreaking decision" to choose from Trump and Clinton, both of whom she is "sorrowfully disappointed with." She said, "I think the American people are not happy with either person for president."

"And the way it's made it difficult for me is that, you know, when you sit down with some foreign minister in another country, or a prime minister of another country, and you say 'hey, you know we really want you to move more authoritatively towards democracy', they look at you," Kerry said. "They're polite but you can see the question in their head and in their eyes and in their expression. It's hard."

Take a look at the following responses by two countries to the U.S. presidential election.

Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said that the "catastrophic reality" of the two candidates "goes beyond what even we were saying."

In Britain, a giant effigy of Trump wielding the head of his rival Clinton was expected to be burned during traditional Nov. 5 bonfire night celebrations.

The 36-foot (11-meter) high model of Trump dressed in shorts decorated with images of Mexicans will be packed with fireworks and set alight in Edenbridge, southeast England, on Saturday as part of the annual Bonfire Night celebrations, AFP reported.

"We are literally helping Trump to live out his own catchphrase 'burn it down' by exploding the 11-meter effigy as the opening act for our fireworks display," said Edenbridge Bonfire Society spokesman Jeni Fox.

"It only seemed fair that Hillary Clinton took some of the limelight, and we are sure the presidential candidates will be pleased to see they are both featured," she added.