How I transformed into Donald Trump to help Kamala Harris prepare for the debate
Philippe Reines revealed hes still cleaning off the orange bronzer he caked onto his face to play Donald Trump in debate prep with Kamala Harris.
Philippe Reines revealed hes still cleaning off the orange bronzer he caked onto his face to play Donald Trump in debate prep with Kamala Harris.
Reines, a former longtime aide to Hillary Clinton, is a pro when it comes to a Trump impersonation. He played the Republican nominee for Clinton during her 2016 debate preparations.
You have to be loud, you have to be buffoonish, you have to lie like theres no tomorrow, he told CNN of playing Trump.
The 54-year-old New York City native used a similar approach to what he did for Clinton when Harris team recruited him to reprise his role for the vice president.
From my perspective, you just want the candidate to get used to what theyre going to see and hear and experience. And it was that added oddity that they never met. And whats great is I had never met her. The first day that I met her, I said, Madam Vice President, its nice to meet you. And then 20 minutes later, I was telling her how she was ruining America, Reines said on MSNBC.
Philippe Reines has a detailed process to transform into Donald Trump
Reines has previously detailed his process for transforming into the legendary New York businessman.
He goes into full-on Trump cosplay, wearing a suit and a long red tie to get into character, along with the heavy pancake makeup Trump wears to give that orange glow.
I cant get it off, he told MSNBC on Wednesday night on the bronzer. I mean, its, its so caked on. The guy uses, you know, like Plaster of Paris.
Otherwise, he indicated its pretty simple to get into the former presidents head.
Hes not Rubiks Cube. Hes not hard to figure out. Hes Jenga. You know, you just push one thing and he falls apart, he said.
It takes a little longer to get out of it.
He posted a photo of himself on X, formerly known as Twitter, in his suit, red tie around his neck and makeup on face after his work with Harris was finished.
To do: Facial, haircut, spiritual cleanse, he wrote.
He didnt get into much specifics as to what he and Harris worked on but he CNN that the two had not rehearsed her handshake with Trump.
In her mind, that was the right, bigger thing to do, he said.
Reines is so fastidious in his approach that the New York Times said he used the Lee Strasberg method to get into character.
When he prepared Clinton to go head-to-head with Trump in the 2016 debates, Reines simply didnt shoot one liners her way, he helped her prepare on how to avoid a hug from her Republican rival.
Footage from their prep session shows, as their practice session began, Reines walked toward Clinton, both arms extended in hug preparation mode. Clinton walked to him and high fived one of his hands, moving quickly past him to avoid his embrace.
Reines then chases her around the practice stage, trying to hug her as Clinton laughs.
From there, Reines proceeded to hammer Clinton as Trump would, preparing her for the inevitable hits from the Republican candidate.
For his part, Reines says he just does a lot of studying.
He noted in a piece for Politico that, in the 2016 election, as part of his preparations to play Trump for Clinton: I watched the 15 Republican primary debates and forums in which Trump participated three times each: once the whole way through; a second time focusing entirely on the exchanges he was part of; a third time with the sound off to watch his mannerisms and body language. I might know his debating style—if you want to call it that—better than anyone on the planet (aside from Hillary Clinton, of course).
Harris spent five days in Pittsburgh preparing for the debate, her first one-on-one with Trump. Her staff built a mock debate stage so she and Reines could stand at lecterns and have a real showdown.
Donald Trump and Kamala Harris shake hands at their debate - Philippe Reines said that moment was not rehearsed ahead of time
Reines told MSNBC hes noticed a difference in Trump from his preparations for the 2016 debates compared to his preparations for the 2024 showdown.
Hes really decompensating, Reines said. His language has always been choppy. Hes always digressed. Theres something else going on there.
He noted Trump is jumping around much more when speaking.
When he loses track of his thoughts, he just goes to another thought quickly, so it doesnt sound like anything. It just sounds like hes jumping around. Thats not what hes doing.
Reines said it suggested that something was not quite right with the former president.
Theres something... very narrowly in terms of watching everything he has said and done over the last few months and reading every word, theres something not right up there, he said.
Harris was widely viewed as the winner of Tuesday nights debate.
During the showdown, she repeatedly baited Trump and got under his skin when she talked about the size of his rallies, his criminal court cases and the fact other world leaders dont like him.
Her team has pitched doing another debate in October.
When Philippe Reines prepared Hillary Clinton to face Donald Trump, he even practiced trying to hug her, chasing her around the mock debate stage
Trump, meanwhile, said he was less inclined to participate in another one after giving his own performance a sterling review.
Well, Id be less inclined to because we had a great night, Trump said in a call-in interview with Fox & Friends on Wednesday morning.
And, in a post on his Truth Social account, Trump said Harris is demanding a debate rematch because she was beaten badly, and compared her to a prize fighter begging for a rematch.
The former president, an Ultimate Fighting Championship fan, cited a poll he did not identify that had him walloping Harris. That came despite other snap polls by CNN and DailyMail had her prevailing in the bout.
In the World of Boxing or UFC, when a Fighter gets beaten or knocked out, they get up and scream, I DEMAND A REMATCH, I DEMAND A REMATCH!, Trump posted online. Well, its no different with a Debate. She was beaten badly last night. Every Poll has us WINNING, in one case, 92-8, so why would I do a Rematch?
