In the first excerpt out from ‘What Happened,’ Hillary Clinton’s post-2016 book, the ex-Democratic nominee labels the now-president a ‘creep’ who made her ‘skin crawl.’
MSNBC’s Morning Joe aired two segments from the Clinton-narrated audio book Wednesday, with Clinton explaining what was going on in her head when candidate Donald Trump lurked behind her during a presidential debate in St. Louis, Missouri.
‘It was incredibly uncomfortable he was literally breathing down my neck,’ Clinton said. ‘My skin crawled,’ she recalled.
CREEP IN THE BACK: In the first excerpt from her new book, Hillary Clinton (left) tells what she was thinking when candidate Donald Trump (right) was hovering too close to her at the second presidential debate
TOO CLOSE FOR COMFORT: Hillary Clinton said when President Trump encroached on her space during the St. Louis debate it made her ‘skin crawl’
Hillary Clinton said she thought about saying: ‘Back up you creep, get away from me! I know you love to intimidate women, but you can’t intimidate me, so back up!’
Instead, Hillary Clinton (right) said she decided to stay composed, but now she’s not sure she made the right decision
Hillary Clinton’s new book on the 2016 campaign will come out on September 12. Morning Joe aired the first two audio book excerpts
Setting up the scene she reminded her audience that the invasion of space took place during the second presidential debate and just days after ‘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,’ she recalled.
She noted that it was one of those moments where she wishes she could ‘hit pause’ and ask everyone in the audience, ‘well, what would you do?’
‘Do you say 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!”‘ Clinton mused.
Hillary Clinton’s newest tome will hit bookshelves on September 12
The former secretary of state, senator and first lady said she chose ‘option A’ because she had been ‘aided by a lifetime of dealing with difficult men trying to throw me off.’
‘I did, however, grip the microphone extra hard,’ she revealed.
Looking back, she said she wondered if she should have chosen option B. For nothing else, for ‘better TV.’
‘Maybe I have overlearned 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,’ she said.
What Clinton doesn’t mention in the soundbite is this is the same debate where Trump paraded around the ‘victims’ of her husband, former President Bill Clinton, including Paula Jones, whose sexual harassment lawsuit led to the uncovering of the president’s Monica Lewinsky affair, which led to his impeachment, though he was acquitted in the Senate.
Trump, whose campaign was reeling in the aftermath of the release of the Access Hollywood tape, decided to muddy the waters by bringing up Bill Clinton’s sexual misdeeds too, trying to label Hillary Clinton as complicit.
Before the start of the St. Louis debate, Trump held a press conference with Jones, Juanita Broaddrick, Kathleen Willey and Kathy Shelton.
Broaddrick has accused Bill Clinton of rape, Willey as accused him of sexual harassment, while Shelton had spoken out against Hillary Clinton for, as a lawyer, defending the man who raped her as a child.
Trump’s antics later extended to the debate stage, as he paced behind Hillary Clinton, menacingly.
In the second excerpt released on Morning Joe, Clinton explains more to her audience what her book is about.
‘In the book, I write about moments from the campaign that I wish I could go back and do over,’ she said.
‘If the Russians could hack my subconscious, they’d find a long list,’ she joked.
Since Election Day, Clinton has received criticism for pointing to the Russians, and now-former FBI Director James Comey, for derailing her campaign, instead of looking inward.
She tells readers that she doesn’t have all the answers if they’re looking for what went wrong.
Nor is the book a ‘comprehensive account’ of the 2016 race.
‘Instead, this is my story. I want to pull back the curtain on an experience it was exhilarating, joyful, humbling, infuriating and just plain baffling,’ she continued.
‘Writing this wasn’t easy,’ she said. ‘Every day that I was a candidate for president I knew that millions of people were counting on me and I couldn’t bear the idea of letting them down. But I did. I couldn’t get the job done.’
‘And I’ll have to live with that for the rest of my life,’ she said.
‘What Happened’ is set to be released on September 12.