Hillary Clinton subjected herself to an interview on Wednesday with Donald Trump, but only because it wasn’t Donald Trump.
In an appearance on NBC’s The Tonight Show, host Jimmy Fallon donned the Donald do and the pomp to perform a faux interview with Clinton, who pretended to be speaking with the real thing.
“I haven’t seen you since my last wedding,” Fallon said to Clinton. Clinton, freshly: “Well, I’m sure I’ll see you at the next one.”
For the Democratic frontrunner, a softball late night television appearance is a chance to appear natural and funny as she builds her campaign in a tough nominating contest. It also allows her to broadcast her campaign messages to a national audience that skews young.
When Fallon-as-Trump asked Clinton about immigration—”wall, or giant wall?”—Clinton had an opening.
“America was built by people who came here, they worked their hearts out for a better life,” Clinton said. “Thats what many Americans are doing day to day. Their dream is to become American citizens.”
Clinton has recently begun appearing in more national television interviews and shows, doing interviews with NBC and ABC in the past weeks, and taping an interview with Ellen Degeneres last week. Today and last week, Clinton appeared natural and her quips prompted laughter from the audience.
But she has had relatively few national interview appearances compared with other candidates.
“That’s great you know how much I love being interviewed,” Clinton said, tongue-in-cheek when Fallon explained how he, as Donald Trump, was going to interview her.
See Hillary Clinton's Evolution in 20 Photos
Teenager: Hillary Rodham poses in her 1965 senior class portrait from Park Ridge East High School in Illinois. APLaw School Student: Bill Clinton and Hillary Rodham pose for a snapshot at Yale Law School in 1972. They married in 1975.Clinton Presidential LibraryMother: Clinton poses with her husband, Bill, then in his first term as governor, with their week-old daughter, Chelsea, on March 5, 1980.Donald R. Broyles—APCampaign Companion: Clinton celebrates her husband's victory in a Democratic runoff in Little Rock, Ark. on June 8, 1982.APArkansas First Lady: Clinton is seen in her inaugural ball gown in 1985. A. Lynn—APPolitical Wife: Clinton celebrates her husband's inauguration in Little Rock on Sept. 20, 1991.Danny Johnston—APDignitary: Clinton receives an honorary law degree from Hendrix College in Conway, Ark., on May 30, 1992.Chris Ocken—APCampaigner: Clinton speaks at a meeting during the presidential campaign for her husband in Buffalo, N.Y., on April 4, 1992.Bill Sikes—APFirst Lady: Clinton appears at the MTV Inauguration Ball at the Washington Convention Center on Jan. 20, 1993. Shayna Brennan—APSecond-Term First Lady: Clinton attends the Inaugural Ball after her husband was sworn in to a second term on Jan. 20, 1997. Brooks Kraft—CorbisNew York Senator: Clinton speaks at a press conference with female Democratic senators in Washington on June 21, 2006. Brooks Kraft—CorbisCommittee Member: Clinton listens to the testimony of Lt. General David Petraeus to the Senate Armed Forces Committee at a hearing on Capital Hill in Washington on Jan. 23, 2007. Brooks Kraft—CorbisCandidate: Clinton holds a a campaign event in Portsmouth, N.H., while running for the Democratic presidential nomination on Sept. 2, 2007. Brooks Kraft—CorbisCampaigner: Clinton speaks at a campaign stop in Cedar Rapids, Iowa on Jan. 2, 2008. Brooks Kraft—CorbisSecretary of State: Clinton kisses President Obama at a joint session of Congress in Washington on Feb. 24, 2009. Brooks Kraft—CorbisWitness: Clinton joins Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Admiral Michael Mullen and Secretary of Defense Robert Gates before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee on Dec. 3, 2009. Brooks Kraft—CorbisWitness: Clinton testifies before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee hearing on the deadly attack on the U.S. diplomatic mission in Benghazi, Libya, on Jan. 23, 2013.J. Scott Applewhite—APAuthor: Clinton attends a signing memoir, "Hard Choices," at a Costco in Arlington, Va., on June 14, 2014. Brooks Kraft—CorbisGrandmother: Clinton holds her granddaughter Charlotte Clinton Mezvinsky at Lenox Hill Hospital in New York City on Sept. 27, 2014.Office of President Clinton/APOnce and Future Candidate: Clinton speaks at Iowa Senator Tom Harkin's annual Steak Fry in Indianola, Iowa, on Sept. 14, 2014. Brooks Kraft—Corbis
