Trump vs. Biden on TV: Clinton describes her Trump duels in stark terms

Joe Biden vs. Donald Trump: The first TV debate between the US President and his challenger is scheduled for this evening. Former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton has duelled with Trump three times and reports of gossip, insults and outright lies.

In just over four months, voters in the USA will vote for their next president. This evening (local time) there is an event in Atlanta, Georgia, that could have a major influence on their decision: the first of two televised debates between Joe Biden and Donald Trump.

Former US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton has already engaged in such a slugfest with both the incumbent and the challenger. In 2008, she was on stage with then-Senator Biden in the Democratic primary, and in the 2016 presidential election campaign, as the Democratic candidate, she had three memorable debates with Trump. In the New York Times, the 76-year-old described what it means to duel with the Republican in front of the cameras.

Clinton trained with mock debates for duel against Trump

“I know the unbearable pressure that comes with stepping on stage and I know that it is almost impossible to focus on content when Mr. Trump is there,” Clinton wrote in a guest article for the newspaper. She had prepared long and hard for her appearances because she knew she had to find a way to see through her opponent’s antics. “In 90-minute mock debates on an identical stage, I practiced keeping a cool head in the face of tough questions and outright lies about my achievements and character,” the former Secretary of State reported. A long-time adviser played Trump and did everything he could to provoke, unsettle and anger her.

The training paid off, Clinton concluded. As expected, Trump unleashed a storm of interruptions, insults and lies during their debates that even overwhelmed the moderators. The Democrat called the attempt to refute Trump’s arguments as in a normal debate a “waste of time”. “It’s almost impossible to see what his arguments even are. He starts with nonsense and then digresses into blather.”

Tips for Biden and the audience

Trump interrupts and harasses his opponents, Clinton wrote. At one point he even followed her on stage because he wanted to appear dominant and throw his opponent off balance. “Trump may also be ranting and raving because he wants to avoid giving clear answers to his unpopular positions, such as restricting abortion and tax breaks for billionaires,” the Democrat speculated.

President Biden advised Clinton to be as direct and forceful as he was during his State of the Union address in March, when he took on Republican hecklers, so Trump’s tricks would fail.

Clinton also had some advice for television viewers: “Try to see through the noise and focus on what’s important, on what’s at stake!” In 2016, Trump refused to say whether he would accept the election results. “You can continue to wait and see,” he replied. “We should be clear about what he says and what that means,” Clinton warned. “There is a direct line from this conversation to the deadly insurrection at the U.S. Capitol on January 6, 2021.”

Sources:“New York Times”