Hillary Clinton, the 2016 Democratic nominee, has revealed new details about what it was like to debate President Donald Trump—and the former secretary of state does not hold back.
In an excerpt of her forthcoming book, What Happened, Clinton describes her debate with Trump just days following the release of a 2005 Access Hollywood tape in which Trump brags about his ability to sexually assault women because he’s a celebrity.
“This is not OK, I thought,” Clinton writes in an excerpt from her book, released by Morning Joe. “It was the second presidential debate, and Donald Trump was looming behind me. Two days before, the world heard him brag about groping women. Now we were on a small stage and 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.”
Clinton goes on to say that she was unsure how to handle the situation: “It was one of those moments where you wish you could hit pause and ask everyone watching: ‘Well, what would you do?’ 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.’”
Rather than succumb to Trump’s intimidation tactics and call him a creep, Clinton went with another option: “Biting my tongue, digging my fingernails into a clenched fist, smiling all the while determined to present a composed face to the world.”
In case you’ve forgotten the second presidential debate, here’s the full video:
Clinton’s What Happened hits bookstores on Sept. 12.
H/T the Guardian