WASHINGTON – Hillary Clinton has as much experience with Donald Trump as any Democrat.
The 2016 presidential campaign, when he was his party’s nominee, included three of the six general election debates in which Trump has participated. Those encounters went a long way toward shaping the country’s view of his candidacy and what he would be like as president.
Trump, of course, won the 2016 election — a result that still haunts Democrats.
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When Clinton called this week to talk to her old debate coach Karen Dunn, who is helping Vice President Kamala Harris this time, I took the opportunity to ask about her experiences on the debate stage with Trump.
“The consensus was that I won all three debates and I was well prepared,” Clinton said.
Here are excerpts from our conversation, which have been lightly edited and condensed.
Q: What do you remember about your own preparations to discuss Trump?
A: It was the first debate where Trump literally mocked me for my preparation. We hadn’t thought about this beforehand, because who thought we could be laughed at while preparing for a presidential debate in front of 85 or 90 million people?
So basically I said yeah I prepared. And I’ll tell you something else I was preparing for: I was preparing to be president. Because I had confidence. I knew the material. I felt comfortable. I also knew I had to pull Trump back and not let him be the center of attention all the time.
Q: What advice do you have for Harris as he prepares to debate Trump?
A: He has proven to be a good debater, both in his races in California and in his debate with Mike Pence. So I think he needs to be prepared enough to feel really comfortable both attacking and defending Trump because he has a lot to say.
Q: Have you spoken to Harris about this conversation?
A: He doesn’t answer questions. He doesn’t bring any details. Based on the report, it looks like he’s taking a scorched earth approach and just trying to tear him down, which is his usual strategy.
You have to get back to him about his truly terrible record as president, the things he’s said he wants to do next time, his connections to Project 2025.
I think he has a lot of good ammo.
Q: Do you think his general strategy of ignoring or downplaying Trump is the right approach?
A: I think it works well. I mean, his excellent, energetic campaign has proven very attractive to people. And all he has to do or say is to tear her down. He has nothing positive to say about our country or the world and I think he handles him very well.
Q: Is there anything else he can learn from or take away from your experience with Trump?
A: Well, I think Philippe [Reines, a former adviser to Clinton who has dressed up as Trump in both her and Harris’ debate-prep sessions] The portrayal of Trump is perfect because honestly, he did such a good job of conveying such a complete Trump package to me that I’m absolutely sure he’ll do the same thing for the Vice President.
Q: Have you talked to Harris about approaching the debate?
A: I talked to him about several things. He just shouldn’t be attracted. He should be attracted to her. He can be enraged. He doesn’t know how to respond to real, direct attacks.
And I think based on his prosecutorial background, I think he’s willing to do that. I mean, when I said he was a Russian doll and he was just sputtering on stage, I think that’s an example of how you find out a fact about him that really haunts him.
The more he can be revealed on stage – he is not a strong leader. He is not a stable leader. The more that can be revealed, the more people will doubt him. And that’s really what this discussion is about, because people who are already locked into supporting him or her are unlikely to change.
But there’s still enough potential movement in key states to convince people they don’t want to sign him for four years.
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