Philippe Reines has been a spokesman and adviser to Hillary Clinton since 2002, and is currently writing a book about his tenure and the Trump presidency.

I lied. I bragged. I flailed my hands and arms. I wore a long red tie. Really long. I did it all.

Except take responsibility. For anything. Ever.


While some people who know me might think I'm describing myself, I’m not. I’m describing the three months last year that I was the Donald Trump stand-in for dozens of mock debates against Hillary Clinton (who was played by Hillary Clinton).

To truly become Trump, I had to immerse myself in all things Trump. I watched every clip of Trump I could get my hands on. All the primary debates, rallies, TV interviews. As I told POLITICO's Annie Karni a few months ago, I got so into my role as Donald Trump that I began to lose my sense of where my tie ended and he began.

But in the process, I learned a few things about the man who, though I wouldn’t have believed it back then, went on to become America’s improbable 45th president. A few traits were clear right away. Really nothing that by this point hasn’t been noted and analyzed. Serial lying. Megalomania. Ignorance.

But the one thing that stood out more than anything, and hasn’t been adequately explored even now, is that Trump has never paid the price for his actions. I couldn’t find even one instance. He didn’t pay taxes. Nothing. He didn’t pay creditors. Nothing. He didn’t pay contractors. Nothing. I’d even argue he came out for the better. He skipped out on his debts, but kept the planes, the helicopters, the penthouses and properties. If you go bankrupt once and there are no consequences, why not do it three more times?

Same with his personal life. He betrayed and publicly embarrassed his first wife—the mother of his eldest three children—in spectacular fashion. No matter—he simply got a second wife (with whom he betrayed his first). Then a third.

Trump’s habit of failing upward jumped out at me right away. But what took a bit to sink in was the realization that why would he ever admit anything? Why would he regret anything? Why apologize for anything?

Every public figure who runs for office makes sure they have the answers to two questions: 1) Why are you running? 2) What do you regret most? When asked Question No. 2 during his presidency, George W. Bush couldn’t answer. The press pummeled him.

For me, as Trump, answering No. 1 was easy. I was running to “Make America Great Again.” But I started thinking through how to answer No. 2. Access Hollywood? Trump University? Not paying taxes? Then I remembered my job, to be Donald Trump. So the answer was clear:

“Nothing.”

It would have been a rare moment of total honesty from him.

Not easy to avoid the unwanted Trump hug, sometimes it even takes practice...



A favorite moment from debate prep (9/24/16): pic.twitter.com/JAAHaqKFoa — Philippe Reines (@PhilippeReines) May 19, 2017

The rest of us pay the consequences for our failures, mistakes, offenses, wronging others. Any parent will say that making their child feel the consequences of their misbehavior is no less important than rewarding them for their successes. Why? To make clear what’s right and what's wrong. Without that, you can’t function personally. Or professionally. You will get dumped. Divorced. Fired.

Consequences teach responsibility. Consequences force people to learn. Consequences impose discipline. People don’t learn the easy way.

But it’s worse. If you never punish a child, if they never spend a moment in timeout, not only do they have no reason not to repeat the behavior—they are emboldened by getting away with it. If I get caught robbing the corner store, but am allowed to keep the loot, why wouldn’t I test the limits and rob a bank?

So, if you had free rein to do as you please? For at least the past 50 of your 70 years? That’s not good. That results in worse and worse transgressions. If you can say the repulsive things about women he did to Billy Bush, why wouldn’t he say the same even now? Or worse. And if the culprit doesn’t pay, someone is. In Trump’s case, tens and tens of millions of us are paying the price for his mistakes.

Next week, Secretary Clinton’s book comes out. I’ve read it. It’s good, really good. It’s candid, and pretty blunt. She says what she did wrong. Did she suffer any consequences? Yes, she is not the 45th president of the United States. I’d argue she also paid the price for Jim Comey’s terribly naive judgment, and Vladimir Putin’s attack on American democracy. I agree with her. Those people share the blame. But she will be blamed for not taking all the blame when in fact she is paying the price for all three. The same media talking heads and pundits who rip her for not absorbing every ounce of blame are the ones who give Trump a pass on ever paying the consequences. Can you imagine what they’d be saying if Hillary as president had done even one of the dozens of crazy or terrible or worse things he’s done? She’d probably have been strung up on Pennsylvania Avenue by now. (But not before being blamed for the eclipse ruining picnics across America.)

As for Trump, Americans of all stripes are hoping one of these days he will have to pay the piper. Impeachment. Invoking the 25th Amendment. Getting shellacked by proxy in the 2018 midterms. But the next time we really get to present him with the bill will be 11/3/2020.

Not only is that a long time away, but it’s not a sure thing. There’s the classic question: If the election were held tomorrow, would you vote for Trump or Democrat X? I’m not sure he’d lose. It will be a struggle between those who voted in 2016 to blow America up and those who in 2020 want to Make America America Again.

He could very well go his entire life without ever suffering the consequences. After all, “When you’re a star, they let you do it. You can do anything.”