Hillary Clinton gives Kamala Harris advice for her big showdown with Trump

Your support helps us to tell the story

Support Now

Find out moreClose

As your White House correspondent, I ask the tough questions and seek the answers that matter.

Your support enables me to be in the room, pressing for transparency and accountability. Without your contributions, we wouldn't have the resources to challenge those in power.

Your donation makes it possible for us to keep doing this important work, keeping you informed every step of the way to the November election

Andrew Feinberg

White House Correspondent

Hillary Clinton has offered some debate tips for Vice President Kamala Harris before she faces off against Donald Trump.

While Trump’s campaign adviser Jason Miller suggested on Monday that preparing to debate Trump is like “trying to prepare for Floyd Mayweather or Muhammad Ali,” Clinton had some specific ideas on how Harris could spar with the former president.

As the Democratic presidential nominee in 2016, Clinton faced Trump three times on the debate stage. Despite losing to him in the general election, she has clung on to her debates, which she says, were a decisive victory.

“The consensus was that I won all three debates and that I was well prepared,” Clinton told the New York Times in a Tuesday interview.

Clinton advised the current Democratic presidential nominee not to shy away from her prosecutorial experience. “She just should not be baited. She should bait him. He can be rattled. He doesn’t know how to respond to substantive, direct attacks,” Clinton said.

“I mean, when I said he was a Russian puppet and he just sputtered onstage, I think that’s an example of how you get out a fact about him that really unnerves him.”

Clinton added: “He doesn’t answer the questions. He doesn’t come with any specifics.”

Clinton also suggested that Harris attack Trump’s “really terrible record” as president as well as what his next term will look like, including Project 2025, the conservative blueprint for a second Trump term spearheaded by the Heritage Foundation.

Trump has tried to disavow himself from the 900-page plan, claiming that he knows “nothing” about it or “who is behind it” — despite its authors coming from his former administration. His own running mate JD Vance wrote a glowing introduction for the Heritage Foundation’s Index of Culture and Opportunity in 2017, a collection of pieces touting conservative views.

“I think she has a lot of good ammunition,” Clinton told the Times.

“He’s not a strong leader. He’s not a stable leader. The more that can be exposed, the more people will have doubts about him,” Clinton told the outlet. She emphasized that this debate is designed for those who are undecided. “There still is enough potential movement in the key states where people can be persuaded that they don’t want to sign on for another four years of him.”

The former Secretary of State also advised: “I think she needs to be prepared enough that she feels really comfortable going on both offense and defense against Trump, because there’s a lot to cover with him.”

Clinton recalled how Trump mocked her for preparing for their head-to-head. “It was the first debate when Trump literally ridiculed me for preparing. This was not something we had thought about beforehand, because who thought we could be ridiculed for preparing for a presidential debate in front of 85 or 90 million people?”

“And I’ll tell you something else I prepared for: I prepared to be president. Because I had the confidence. I knew the material. I felt comfortable. I also knew I had to brush Trump back and not let him be the center of attention all the time,” she said.

Trump in recent weeks has often relied on personal attacks against Harris — like questioning her race or suggesting that she has a low IQ — while also illustrating a dystopian view of the country. Harris has brushed off the attacks and promoted a bright view of the nation’s future.

Clinton suggested Harris stick to what she’s been doing so far.

“He has nothing positive to say about our country or the world, and I think she’s handling him very well.”