Clinton camp: Trump's campaign is 'panicked'

Donald Trump’s presidential campaign is “panicked” and will resort to slinging “a lot of mud” at Tuesday night’s vice presidential debate, Hillary Clinton campaign manager Robby Mook said Tuesday morning.

Mook wondered aloud during an interview with “CBS This Morning” how eager Trump’s running mate, Indiana Gov. Mike Pence, would be to defend the Manhattan billionaire after a week in which he attacked a former Miss Universe winner for gaining “a massive amount of weight” and bragged that tax avoidance made him “smart.”


“I think the Trump campaign is a bit panicked right now. They need to change the narrative. They need to change the message. They've had a bad week. So we're expecting them to throw a lot of mud,” Mook said. “And it’s going to be very interesting to see how Mike Pence responds to questions about Trump’s behavior in the last week. You know, is he going to defend the way he attacked Alicia Machado, the former Miss Universe? Is he going to defend the 3 a.m. Twitter rants? Is he going to defend Donald Trump’s comments about veterans or the fact that he’s proud that he didn’t pay taxes for nearly two decades?”

Clinton’s campaign manager said he hoped the former secretary of state’s running mate, Sen. Tim Kaine (D-Va.), would get a chance to focus on the Democratic ticket’s economic vision for the country. Kellyanne Conway, Donald Trump’s campaign manager said viewers could expect a “fiery” performance from Pence Tuesday night in which the Indiana governor will offer forceful attacks against Clinton.

But Mook said he expected Pence to be the one playing defense Wednesday night.

“So this is going to be a little bit different. Usually this is a test to see if these candidates are prepared to serve as president. I think both of them are regarded as pretty accomplished public servants,” Mook said. “The real question is, is Mike Pence going to defend Donald Trump.”