As speculation continues that in the end former President Donald Trump will find a reason to pull out of his first debate with Joe Biden, former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton has offered some advice to Biden after having debated Trump in her unsuccessful 2016 Presidential bid.
Hillary Clinton has said it would be a “waste of time” for Joe Biden to attempt to refute Donald Trump’s contentions in Thursday’s presidential debate because “it’s nearly impossible to identify what his arguments even are”.
The former secretary of state wrote in a New York Times opinion piece that Trump “starts with nonsense and then digresses into blather”.
“This has gotten only worse in the years since we debated,” she said.
Clinton debated Trump while unsuccessfully running for the White House against him in 2016 – and she had also debated Biden during a presidential primary eight years earlier.
Trump was later accused of speaking over Clinton and looming over her in a way that she later described as “really weird”.
Clinton predicted in her op-ed that Trump’s strategies would “fall flat” if Biden “is as direct and forceful as he was” during his State of the Union address in March.
Referring to Trump, she added: “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 advised debate-watchers to focus on three things: how each candidate talks about people, whether they “focus on the fundamentals”, and on the choice between “chaos and competence”.
There’s no shortage of advice being offered to Biden and social media discussions on the debates, Biden and Trump. Here’s a sampling:
I'm the only person to have debated both of this year's presidential candidates before.
Here's my advice to viewers of Thursday's first bout:
Don't get hung up on Trump's theatrics.
Watch out for these three things instead. https://t.co/K2pFZykfn2
— Hillary Clinton (@HillaryClinton) June 25, 2024
Nicolle Wallace's debate advice for @POTUS Joe Biden is spot-on. ??? pic.twitter.com/xzmMPhgd9C
— Bill Madden (@maddenifico) June 24, 2024
"I think what Biden wants out of this debate is to have the American people look at both of them and remember why they fired Donald Trump four years ago, and why they hired Joe Biden."
— @Messina2012 looks ahead to Thursday's debate pic.twitter.com/pPqHPzUN9s
— Morning Joe (@Morning_Joe) June 25, 2024
To be clear, I don't care who wins the debate. I'm still voting for Joe Biden. Because this is America, not North Korea.
— MM ? (@adgirlMM) June 25, 2024
I keep reading about Trump's poor debating skills, lack of debate prep, etc.
Trump debated 11 times in the 2016 GOP primary and won the nomination. Trump debated Hillary three times and won the election. Trump debated Biden twice and came close.
Maybe don't underestimate him?
— Bill Kristol (@BillKristol) June 25, 2024
If Biden is too energetic in Thursday’s debate, I won’t vote for him because I’ll assume he’s on stimulant drugs. But if he’s not energetic enough, I won’t vote for him because I’ll assume he’s on depressants.
— New York Times Pitchbot (@DougJBalloon) June 25, 2024
MARIA BARTIROMO: They're probably experimenting with getting doses right, giving Biden medicine ahead of the debate. Is that what you think?
REP. ERIC BURLISON: Yeah … whether they're gonna jack him up on Mountain Dew or whatever it is. pic.twitter.com/qrGTmP5O1Z
— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) June 25, 2024
Still a 50/50 chance that @realDonaldTrump chickens out of the debate… because he’s a coward.
— Alexander S. Vindman ? (@AVindman) June 25, 2024
I’m old enough to remember Trump’s first debates back in ‘15 when instead of any attempt at policy talk he just came out said sh*t like ‘your wife’s ugly..’ and ‘the moderator must be on the rag..’ and the GOP was like ‘Yup, that’s our guy’. Vote Blue.
— NoelCaslerComedy? (@caslernoel) June 25, 2024
Joe Gandelman is a former fulltime journalist who freelanced in India, Spain, Bangladesh and Cypress writing for publications such as the Christian Science Monitor and Newsweek. He also did radio reports from Madrid for NPR’s All Things Considered. He has worked on two U.S. newspapers and quit the news biz in 1990 to go into entertainment. He also has written for The Week and several online publications, did a column for Cagle Cartoons Syndicate and has appeared on CNN.