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Hillary Clinton gives advice to Joe Biden ahead of presidential debate where she says Trump will exceed expectations if he doesn't 'literally light himself on fire'
It's a 'waste of time' to try to refute Donald Trump's arguments onstage in a live presidential debate, former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton advises in a new op-ed days before President Biden must face his rival in Atlanta.
Clinton went head-to-head with Trump during the 2016 elections, besting him according to snap polls even as he repeatedly interrupted her, prowled behind her onstage, and blasted her over her email scandal.
Eight years after smack-downs where Trump tried to get in her head by bringing Bill Clinton accusers to a debate, Clinton assesses the state of play as Biden, 81, prepares to face Trump, 77, on CNN Thursday.
'Yet expectations for him are so low that if he doesn’t literally light himself on fire on Thursday evening, some will say he was downright presidential,' Clinton writes in the New York Times.
Trump and his team have been working to set those expectations, with Trump pivoting to stress some of Biden's strengths even while claiming without evidence that Biden will rely on drugs to get 'jacked up' for the debate.
Former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton offers some debate guidance as President Joe Biden prepares to face her 2016 rival, former President Donald Trump
'In our three debates in 2016, he unleashed a blizzard of interruptions, insults and lies that overwhelmed the moderators and did a disservice to the voters who tuned in to learn about our visions for the country — including a record 84 million viewers for our first debate.'
'It is a waste of time to try to refute Mr. Trump’s arguments like in a normal debate. It’s nearly impossible to identify what his arguments even are. He starts with nonsense and then digresses into blather,' writes Clinton.
'He interrupts and bullies — even stalking me around the stage at one point — because he wants to appear dominant and throw his opponent off balance,' Clinton wrote. In Thursday's debate, the mics will be muted for two minutes while each candidate speaks.
(Clinton wrote in a book that her 'skin crawled' when Trump followed her around the stage in their second meeting in St. Louis in 2016).
Trump also repeatedly interrupted her during her answers, sometimes grimacing while she spoke. 'That makes me smart,' Trump interjected when Clinton said during the 2016 NBC debate that he didn't pay any federal income taxes for the few years that his returns were available.
'These ploys will fall flat if President Biden is as direct and forceful as he was when engaging Republican hecklers at the State of the Union address in March,' Clinton advises.
'It is a waste of time to try to refute Mr. Trump’s arguments like in a normal debate,' writes Clinton, who faced frequent Trump interruptions
Clinton, who went on to serve as Barack Obama's secretary of state, notes that she has debated both Biden and Trump.
Biden was a low polling contender when Clinton faced him in debates and forums in 2007
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Clinton also mentions what she did to get ready for the contests, saying she 'prepared intensely for the debates because I knew I had to find a way to cut through Mr. Trump’s antics and help the American people understand what was really at stake.'
'In 90-minute mock debates on an identical stage, I practiced keeping my cool in the face of hard questions and outright lies about my record and character. A longtime adviser played Mr. Trump and did everything he could to provoke, rattle, and enrage me. It worked,' she writes referencing longtime aide Philippe Reines.
'Unfortunately, Mr. Biden starts from a disadvantage because there’s no way he can spend as much time preparing as I did eight years ago,' writes Clinton – although Biden booked a week at Camp David for strategy sessions in preparation for the contest.
In a prime time event set to draw millions, Clinton advises, 'As viewers, we should try not to get hung up on the theatrics,' at an event where media analysts will be keeping score not just on points and rebuttals but on what kind of stamina Biden displays and whether Trump is able to keep his cool.
She urges viewers to use the debates to see the contest as a 'choice' – something Biden advisors have pushed, amid concerns that Biden won't fare as well if the race becomes a referendum on the unpopular president's tenure.
'When you see these two men side by side, think about the real choice in this election. It’s between chaos and competence,' writes Clinton, who ultimately lost to Trump even while beating him in the popular vote.
'Mr. Trump has been convicted of 34 felonies and found liable for sexual assault and financial fraud. He’s spent a lifetime putting himself first. If he gets back to the White House, we’ll have more inflation and less freedom,' she writes.
If her own article is a guide, Clinton is also hinting that Biden should pile on the attacks. 'This election is between a convicted criminal out for revenge and a president who delivers results for the American people. No matter what happens in the debate, that’s an easy choice,' she concludes.