Shortly before the TV debate
Clinton reports “unbearable pressure” at Trump duel
26.06.2024, 06:48 a.m.
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Biden and Trump will soon meet in a TV debate. Former US presidential candidate Clinton is now reporting how Trump bullied her in 2016. “He starts with nonsense and then digresses into chatter,” said the 76-year-old. It is almost impossible to concentrate on the content.
Former US presidential candidate Hillary Clinton does not have fond memories of her TV debates against Republican Donald Trump. Shortly before the eagerly awaited TV debate between Trump and US President Joe Biden, Clinton wrote a guest article for the New York Times about her own experiences with Trump in the 2016 election year. “I know the unbearable pressure you are under when you step on the stage and that it is almost impossible to concentrate on the content when Mr. Trump is there,” the former US Secretary of State reported on her duel encounters eight years ago when she ran for the Democrats against Trump.
During the three TV debates at the time, Trump unleashed a wave of “interruptions, insults and lies that overwhelmed the moderators and did a disservice to voters who wanted to learn about our vision for the country,” she complained. “It’s a waste of time to try to refute Mr. Trump’s arguments like in a normal debate. It’s almost impossible to know what his arguments even are,” the 76-year-old scoffed. “He starts with nonsense and then digresses into blather. This has only gotten worse in the years since our debate.”
Trump tends to interrupt and bully in order to appear dominant and try to throw his opponent off track. In her case, he even sneaked around her on stage. In a debate against Clinton in 2016, Trump had temporarily positioned himself behind his opponent and loomed over her as she spoke. Trump’s behavior caused some ridicule online at the time.
On Thursday evening local time, Trump and Biden will face each other for the first time in a TV debate in the current presidential election campaign. The two had already appeared together on the TV stage in the 2020 election year. Back then, Trump was the incumbent and Biden the challenger – this time the roles are reversed.