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Hillary Clinton US Presidential Election Media

Hillary Clinton seeks counsel from the man who helped create brand Trump in run-up to critical debate

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By Jessica Goodfellow | Media Reporter

September 25, 2016 | 3 min read

Tony Schwartz, the man who spent 18 months shadowing Donald Trump while ghostwriting his 1987 blockbuster The Art of the Deal, has become rival Hillary Clinton’s latest informant as tomorrow night’s critical debate between the two candidates looms.

Trump vs Clinton

Trump vs Clinton

Trump’s rise began with the extraordinary success of his book The Art of the Deal, which was on the best-seller list for 48 weeks; 13 of which it spent at number one. The book helped the New York property mogul land a TV spot on The Apprentice, later The Celebrity Apprentice, which established him as a rich, successful businessman who rose from modest beginnings. And so the Trump brand was born.

The book that kickstarted this success was actually written by Tony Schwartz, who spent 18 months learning the ins and outs of Trump’s life as a shadow. There are few people in this world who can say they know Trump as well as Shwartz.

Herein lies the opportunity for rival candidate Hillary Clinton, who has since won the loyalty of Schwartz, a lifelong liberal. Shwartz has been acting as an advisor to Clinton’s campaign officials ahead of the debate tomorrow evening, agreeing to tell-all in exchange for Trump’s demise.

Schwartz told the Sunday Times he felt so “significantly guilty 30 years on” since writing the book he had to intervene to help Clinton. While he declined to reveal to the Sunday paper the precise advice he had given Clinton to expose the shortcomings of her rival, he hinted Trump’s own past statements could be used against him.

“He is very thin-skinned and when he is confronted with his own lies, rather than apologising he tends to double down on them and be more emphatic,” he told the paper. “What he has said is so indefensible that to simply bring that to his attention in a relentless way strikes me as both the best way to get under his skin and the best way to make the case that he’s unqualified to be president.”

Schwartz warned that Trump’s background as a reality TV star is his advantage over Clinton, who has spent nearly four decades in public life. “He’s a showman and a master manipulator,” Schwartz said. “He understands instinctively how to engage a crowd.”

Hillary Clinton US Presidential Election Media

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