Hillary Clinton has made it clear President Joe Biden needs to be as "direct and forceful" against former President Donald Trump in Thursday night's debate as he was when confronting congressional hecklers during his State of the Union address, saying that in her experience, it's a "waste of time" to refute Trump's arguments "like in a normal debate."
"I am the only person to have debated both men (Mr. Trump in 2016 and, in the 2008 Democratic presidential primary race, Senator Biden)," Clinton, the 2016 Democratic Party nominee, wrote in a scathing opinion piece for The New York Times Tuesday.
"I know the excruciating pressure of walking onto that stage and that it is nearly impossible to focus on substance when Mr. Trump is involved," she added.
In their three debates in 2016, Clinton said, Trump "unleashed a blizzard of interruptions, insults, and lies that overwhelmed the moderators and did a disservice to the voters."
And, she wrote that it's "nearly impossible to identify" what Trump's arguments are, as "he starts with nonsense and then digresses into blather."
Still, Clinton said that the expectations are "so low" for Trump in Thursday's debate that "if he doesn't literally light himself on fire … some will say he was downright presidential."
It's been eight years since Clinton and Trump squared off, but she recalled that he "interrupts and bullies" including "stalking me around the stage at one point" to appear dominant.
Clinton also said he won't want to give straight answers on abortion and other issues.
"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," said Clinton, adding that Biden "has facts and truth on his side" because of the economy and investments in clean energy.
"He'll win if that story comes through," Clinton insisted.
Clinton said she prepared "intensely" to face Trump in the 2016 debates.
"A longtime adviser played Mr. Trump and did everything he could to provoke, rattle, and engage me," she wrote. "It worked."
But Biden, as president, does not have as much time to spend preparing, which has historically led to weaker first debate performances for incumbents, said Clinton.
"As viewers, we should try not to get hung up on the theatrics," she wrote.
Instead, she said viewers should pay attention to how the candidates talk about people instead of just their policies.
"In my third debate with Mr. Trump, he promised to appoint Supreme Court justices who would overturn Roe v. Wade," she recalled. "I responded that this would have real consequences for real women."
Thursday night, Trump will likely say he wants to leave abortion to the states in "hopes that sounds moderate," Clinton wrote.
"But it really means he’s endorsing the most extreme abortion bans already imposed by many states and all the extreme restrictions to come," said Clinton.
She also called on watchers to "try to see through the bluster" and focus on fundamentals and said the decision should be easy on Election Day.
"This election is between a convicted criminal out for revenge and a president who delivers results for the American people," she concluded. "No matter what happens in the debate, that’s an easy choice."