“You can’t think in those terms. You’re just onstage with a malfunctioning appliance. I mean, you can’t. You can’t assume that you’re going to get done what you want to get done unless you do it in the context of using the malfunctioning appliance to make your point. The debates are a moment where everyone tunes in more, but they’re not distinctly that different from the rest of the campaign. The debate is an opportunity to do a few things. One is to talk to a much larger audience than you will at any other point. It is the most acute opportunity to provide an actual visual contrast to your opponent. This idea that every time he’s convicted of a felony or his house is raided by the FBI, or he loses an election somehow, is in his favor is silly. So to apply that to the debates. The idea that Donald Trump doesn’t make mistakes or things don’t hurt him [politically]? It’s pretty silly concerning the fact that he’s lost an election in large part because of many mistakes he made.”