About a billion years ago, Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump took the stage in St. Louis, Missouri, for the second presidential debate. As they sparred, the candidates crossed the podium-less town hall platform, Clinton gripping the microphone with Trump a couple steps behind her, looming in a over-sized suit with a glower on his face. It was menacing, especially because the debate happened just days after the Access Hollywood tapes revealed a younger Trump, just a child of 59, bragging about molesting women.
Morning Joe got a first look at Clinton's new book, What Happened, including an audio excerpt about the second debate. Clinton outlined the choice she made to not address her opponent's lurking while her "skin crawled." She called him a "creep," and accused him of a "love to intimidate women." Here's the full passage:
No matter where I walked, he followed me closely, staring at me, making faces. It was incredibly uncomfortable. He was literally breathing down my neck. My skin crawled. It was one of those moments where you wish you could hit pause and ask everyone watching, "Well, what would you do?" You stay calm, keep smiling, and carry on as if he weren't repeatedly invading your space? Or do you turn, look him in the eye, and say loudly and clearly, "Back up, you creep! Get away from me! I know you love to intimidate women, but you can't intimidate me, so back up!" I chose option A. I kept my cool, aided by a lifetime of dealing with difficult men trying to throw me off. I did, however, grip the microphone extra hard. I wonder, though, whether I should have chosen option B. It certainly would have been better TV. Maybe I have over learned the lesson of staying calm, biting my tongue, digging my fingernails into a clenched fist, smiling all the while, determined to present a composed face to the world.
This was the same debate that Trump interrupted Clinton 18 times, and the same debate he brought in three of Bill Clinton's alleged sexual assault victims to watch from the stands. There's no point arguing what Clinton should have done instead of going the calm route—that alone wouldn't have changed the outcome, as many voters didn't give a damn about feminist issues—but like she said, it would've made good TV. And if there's any statement to summarise the 2016 election (and the agonisingly stupid months after), it's that.
