"He's like the Babe Ruth of debating. He really shows up and swings and does a great job,” Kellyanne Conway said of Donald Trump. | AP Photo Conway calls Trump 'the Babe Ruth of debating'

On the eve of the first presidential debate, Donald Trump’s campaign manager, Kellyanne Conway, described her candidate Sunday as “the Babe Ruth of debating,” a glowing assessment that’s unusual at a time when both camps typically work to rein in expectations.

“He's a brilliant debater,” Conway said on ABC’s “This Week.” “Newt Gingrich put it best. The former speaker recently said Donald Trump is the best debater he's ever seen. He's like the Babe Ruth of debating. He really shows up and swings and does a great job.”


Trump has complained that the moderators of the debates may be unfair to him. But Conway said she’s not troubled by any of them, including Monday night’s moderator, NBC's Lester Holt.

“He's certainly going to be a good debate moderator tomorrow in that I trust that all of these moderators … for all the debates, including the VP debate next week, will be asking questions that benefit the voter,” she said.

And Conway threw cold water on the notion that Gennifer Flowers — who claimed a 12-year affair with Bill Clinton before his presidential bid — would be invited by the campaign to take a front-row seat, a suggestion Trump made on Twitter in response to the Hillary Clinton camp’s invitation of Mark Cuban, a billionaire Trump antagonist. (Flowers told reporters that she would attend the debate.)

“She has not been invited by the campaign. She has a right to be there if somebody else gives her a ticket,” Conway said. “But you know, I do think also it shows the poor judgment, a lack of nimbleness of the Clinton campaign that they actually put a statement out last night about Gennifer Flowers being invited, that it shows how easily provoked Donald Trump is, no, you just put out a statement and reminded people who had no — taught people who had no idea who Gennifer Flowers is, that she's the woman who had — said she had a 12-year affair with your husband when he was governor.”

Asked why Trump suggested he may invite Flowers, Conway said, “Because he wants to remind people that he's a great counterpuncher.”

“They started this one by saying that they would give a front-row seat to Mark Cuban,” she said.

GOP vice-presidential nominee Mike Pence, in an interview on "Fox News Sunday," also said Flowers would not be attending the debate.