NBC News anchor Lester Holt says Hillary Clinton will not escape voters’ concerns that she is dishonest should she win the presidency.
“Her Achilles’ heel has been this perception of playing fast and loose with the rules [and] being untrustworthy,” he said in a WWD interview published Thursday.
{mosads}“I don’t think that goes away,” Holt added of the Democratic presidential nominee. “I think that potentially dogs her if she is elected president.”
Holt said GOP nominee Donald Trump, meanwhile, has perfected the art of drawing media coverage for his campaign.
“[Trump] understands our business,” he said. “He has gone where no presidential candidate has gone before multiple times.”
“When you have a candidate who has said things that are culturally and racially offensive, when you have a candidate that has advocated positions that are largely unconstitutional, you can’t ignore those things,” Holt added.
“Every day we make the decision about what you think is the lead story and generally it is provocative, something surprising … often he’s that guy. He’s a master at pushing buttons and making you look twice.”
Holt added Trump’s political inexperience has proved an asset against seasoned public servants such as Clinton.
“He’s a gifted — and I say this not in a negative way — showman,” he said. “He’s supremely confident. Something he may get called out, he will continue to say it with great conviction.
“What has been unique about Donald Trump is that he owns things. He has been very bold and owned those [controversial] things. We’ve done our job, but a lot of things we see as controversies have made him stronger.”
Holt moderated the first presidential debate between Clinton and Trump in late September at Hofstra University in Hempstead, N.Y.
Clinton leads Trump by about 2 points nationwide five days from Election Day, according to the latest RealClearPolitics average of surveys.