Clinton, Trump Debate Will Be 'Singular Moment in American History'

ByLIZ KREUTZ ABCNews logo
Wednesday, June 8, 2016

As Hillary Clinton achieves a milestone as the first woman to clinch the presidential nomination for any major presidential party, she is looking ahead to what she says will be another "singular moment in American history": debating Donald Trump.



The presumptive Democratic nominee, told ABC News' David Muir Tuesday night that she is "so looking forward" to debating the real estate mogul.



"Absolutely, I really am," Clinton said in an exclusive interview ahead of her remarks at the Brooklyn Navy Yard. "I think it would be a singular moment in American history, because I think I'll have chance to make clear why I believe why he is not qualified and temperamentally unfit to be president."



In a speech earlier tonight in Westchester, New York, Trump, the presumptive Republican nominee, invited supporters of Clinton's rival, Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders to come to his side. When asked about it by Muir, Clinton brushed it off as Trump trying to "muddy the waters."



"It really doesn't concern me," she said with a chuckle. "This is just more of his rhetoric to try to muddy the waters about what he stands for. Anyone who supported Bernie Sanders who thinks we should raise the minimum wage, who thinks that we should have universal healthcare coverage, who thinks that the wealthy have not paid their fair share, and I could go on and on, would certainly not find that Donald Trump's views are in line with theirs."



Recently, Clinton has escalated her rhetoric and attacks against Trump. However, she stopped short of calling him a racist in her interview with Muir in reference to Trump's controversial comments about a federal judge's ethnic background.



"I don't know what's in his heart," she said. "But I know that that comment about the very accomplished federal judge who was born in Indiana to parents from Mexico was a racist attack and I think that has been made clear by the many many voices speaking out against it and many from the Republican side, because clearly this was shocking to people and it went against everything we believe in that this is a meritocracy that people should be able to rise as high as their hard work, their ambition, their talent will take them."



Trump has said he's the "least racist person" during an interview with CBS.



For more of Muir's exclusive interview with Clinton, tune into "Nightline" tonight and "Good Morning America" and "World News Tonight with David Muir" on Wednesday.



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