Hillary Clinton: Kamala Harris should ‘bait’ Trump during their debate

“It shouldn’t be bait. It should be baiting him,” Clinton told the paper.

Clinton argued that at a key moment in the final 2016 presidential debate, pitting Trump on foreign affairs — where she called him a “puppet” of Russian President Vladimir Putin — threw him off balance.

“He may be troubled,” Clinton told the Times. “He doesn’t know how to respond to direct, substantive attacks.”

“And I think from her background as a prosecutor, I think that’s what she’ll be prepared to do,” Clinton added.

Clinton, who in 2016 won the popular vote but lost the Electoral College to Trump after coming up short in key battlegrounds like Michigan, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin, said the debate would be a prime opportunity for Harris to provide a contrast to the former president as they appeal to die-hard voters.

“There’s still enough potential swings in key states where people can be convinced they don’t want to commit to another four years of it,” Clinton said.

In both 2016 and 2020, Trump has relentlessly sought to control the tone of his debates with Clinton and current President Joe Biden, respectively.

In the first televised debate of the 2020 election, Trump spoke frequently about Biden, so much so that Biden told Trump to “shut up” after several interruptions.

Biden’s one-time bid for re-election in 2024 was ultimately derailed in large part by a poor performance in the debate against Trump in June. The following month, Biden stepped aside as the presumptive Democratic nominee and endorsed Harris as his successor, paving the way for her ascension as the party’s new standard-bearer.

Harris and Trump, who are locked in a highly competitive race, will face off Tuesday at the National Constitution Center in Philadelphia.