What worked for Trump in the primaries failed him against Clinton

Donald Trump was trying very hard to be on his best behavior.

In the opening minutes of the first presidential debate Monday night, the Republican nominee began an answer by saying, “In all fairness to Secretary Clinton” — then turned to his opponent with exaggerated cordiality. “Yes? Is that okay? Good. I want you to be very happy. It’s very important to me.”

But even Trump’s best behavior was not quite good enough. Within minutes, he was hectoring and interrupting Clinton when she spoke, glowering, pursing his lips, shaking his head and interjecting one-word retorts.

“Wrong!” he told Clinton.

“Wrong!” he told the moderator, NBC’s Lester Holt.

“Wrong!” “Wrong!” “Wrong!” he said, over and over again.

But it was Trump who was wrong — on the facts, but also in his approach to the debate.

Trump had done well in the primary debates with his insults, interruptions and one-liners. Monday’s 90-minute, one-on-one debate, however, was a format that did not work well for him.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/this-time-trumps-interruptions-insults-and-insinuations-arent-enough/2016/09/26/fcdce978-845c-11e6-a3ef-f35afb41797f_story.html?utm_term=.cad11704e6db&wpisrc=nl_rainbow&wpmm=1