In the posters hanging from the walls of Hillary Clinton’s headquarters — made just for the occasion on Thursday night — the Republicans looked twice their size.

Each print-out showed a different candidate, flashing their widest smile or most aspirational look, alongside a flattering quotation about their Democratic opponent. Clinton, according to the remarks rendered in bold-lettering on the posters, was “a terrific woman” (Donald Trump, 2012), an exemplar of “hard work” (Marco Rubio, 2013), an overall “very, very capable public servant” (Rick Perry, 2014).

It was all part of the point, or joke, at the Clinton offices in Brooklyn, where aides invited more than a dozen reporters to watch the GOP hold its first debate. Every one-off from Trump, every comment targeting Clinton, was met with some measure of celebration by the dozens of staffers gathered at headquarters for the event.

When Rubio warned the audience that Clinton would be the next president if “this election is a resume competition,” the crowd in Brooklyn whooped and cheered.

When Trump dismissed a question on his remarks about women, a Clinton adviser in the press file said under her breath, “Please keep this guy in, please!”

And when Clinton’s campaign manager, Robby Mook, was asked to name his favorite Republican candidate, he replied with a grin. “They’re all so out of touch! I mean, it’s so hard to choose, you know? Out of touch and out of date.”

For Clinton, it was part watch-party, part victory-party.

Never mind that she was not participating, or that the general election is more than a year away. (Clinton didn’t even see the debate, aides said.) Still, before, during, and after the Fox broadcast, her team was eager to highlight the other party at a stage in the race when the field has yet to narrow.

The decision to open up the headquarters for an orchestrated “filing center” was a first for the campaign. As reporters arrived, aides sent around a “prebuttal preview” of the debate. Then came a tour. First, to the “war room,” where about 15 aides bent over their laptops, preparing for the debate. Next, to an open area, the “bullpen,” where a larger group of staffers waited for the show and got a brief pep talk from Mook, also in view of the reporters.