Note to Comey: Avoiding a hug from Trump takes practice. Just ask Hillary Clinton

Duck and dodge!
 By 
Marcus Gilmer
 on 
Note to Comey: Avoiding a hug from Trump takes practice. Just ask Hillary Clinton
"NO HUGS" Credit: JEWEL SAMAD/AFP/GETTY IMAGES

UPDATED (2:15 p.m. ET) to include Hillary Clinton's reaction.


No one wants to hug Donald Trump. Not James Comey and especially not Hillary Clinton.

Back before that first presidential debate in September of 2016 -- which seems decades ago -- we wondered how awkward the first exchange of pleasantries between Trump and Clinton would be.

Well, now, thanks to some great behind-the-scenes video, we know that was also on the minds of the Clinton campaign.

The above video was shared by Philippe Reines, a "long-time Clinton confidant," who also played the role of Trump in debate prep. In the video, Clinton can be seen dodging an attempt at a hug from "Trump."

The Frankenstein-like approach to a hug seems eerily accurate, though "Trump's" chasing after Clinton after being awkwardly denied was probably hyperbole. Probably. We'll (thankfully) never know.

And, yes, even though that video is super blurry and apparently taken on a 10-year-old Blackberry, Reines confirmed on Twitter that is, indeed, Hillary Clinton.

So don't worry, Comey, you weren't the only one who went to great lengths to avoid Trump's admiration.

UPDATE: It looks like Hillary herself remembers this moment fondly, as well.

#NoTrumpHugs indeed.

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Marcus Gilmer

Marcus Gilmer is Mashable's Assistant Real-Times News Editor on the West Coast, reporting on breaking news from his location in San Francisco. An Alabama native, Marcus earned his BA from Birmingham-Southern College and his MFA in Communications from the University of New Orleans. Marcus has previously worked for Chicagoist, The A.V. Club, the Chicago Sun-Times and the San Francisco Chronicle.

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