A top aide to Donald Trump Donald John TrumpBubba Wallace to be driver of Michael Jordan, Denny Hamlin NASCAR team Graham: GOP will confirm Trump's Supreme Court nominee before the election Southwest Airlines, unions call for six-month extension of government aid MORE says Sen. Bernie Sanders Bernie SandersJacobin editor: Primarying Schumer would force him to fight Trump's SCOTUS nominee Trump campaign plays up Biden's skills ahead of Cleveland debate: 'He's actually quite good' Young voters backing Biden by 2:1 margin: poll MORE (I-Vt.) exposed Hillary Clinton Hillary Diane Rodham ClintonJoe Biden looks to expand election battleground into Trump country Biden leads Trump by 12 points among Catholic voters: poll The Hill's Campaign Report: Biden goes on offense MORE’s debating flaws during the primaries.

“She got tripped up quite a bit,” campaign manager Kellyanne Conway said on Fox News Radio’s “Kilmeade and Friends” Wednesday.

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“She [was] easily tripped up by Bernie Sanders on foreign policy, on her record of failures,” she added of the Democratic presidential primary debates.

“She was easily taken off guard. She seemed much more defensive. We’re very aware of that.”

Conway said Clinton has lost some of her boldness since the 2008 presidential election cycle.

“The 2008 Hillary Clinton had the confidence of a front-runner,” she said. "This was her race to lose.

“In 2016, she was easily flummoxed by Bernie Sanders if you go back and see those debates,” Conway said. "I saw a lot less confidence and a lot more wariness on the debate stage in 2016 stylistically.

“Here she is trying to be a little bit more of a centrist, a little bit more of a moderate, like her husband was — his winning formula in 1992 — not realizing that the modern Democratic Party would never welcome [former President] Bill Clinton William (Bill) Jefferson ClintonGOP brushes back charges of hypocrisy in Supreme Court fight Battle lines drawn on precedent in Supreme Court fight Sunday shows - Ruth Bader Ginsburg's death dominates MORE [from] 1992 now.”

Conway added that Hillary Clinton seemed rusty during an NBC forum for military veterans earlier this month.

“Her answers are so lengthy, so lawyerly,” she said of the Democratic presidential nominee.

“She only got like six or seven questions that night because she takes forever. She’s apologizing; she’s dissembling; she’s deflecting.”

Clinton’s first presidential debate against Trump is scheduled for Monday, Sept. 26, at Hofstra University in Hempstead, N.Y.

The contest is critical as it comes amid tightening polls between the two at both the national and state levels.

Clinton leads Trump, the GOP’s presidential nominee, by 1 point nationwide in the latest RealClearPolitics average of polls.

Clinton’s campaign earlier Wednesday said it fears debate moderators could “lower the bar” when questioning Trump.