Hillary Clinton warns Biden about Trump debate: It won't be a 'normal' TV faceoff

WASHINGTON — Former Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton wrote in an op-ed piece that it’s a “waste of time” to try to counter Donald Trump in a TV forum as it were a "normal debate.“

The former secretary of state, who debated Trump three times during the 2016 election, had some advice for President Joe Biden as he prepares to take the stage with the presumptive GOP nominee.

“It’s nearly impossible to identify what his arguments even are. He starts with nonsense and then digresses into blather. This has gotten only worse in the years since we debated,” Clinton wrote in a New York Times op-ed published Tuesday.

She added that Trump “may rant and rave in part because he wants to avoid giving straight answers about his unpopular positions.”

Her piece comes as Biden and Trump are expected to face off for the first 2024 presidential election debate Thursday night hosted by CNN moderators Jake Tapper and Dana Bash. Clinton wrote that to cut through Trump’s tactics, Biden must be as “as direct and forceful as he was when engaging Republican hecklers at the State of the Union address in March.”

She also advised viewers to cut through the theatrics by paying attention to how the candidates talk about people, focusing on the fundamental issues at stake and thinking about the “real choice” in this election.

“This election is between a convicted criminal out for revenge and a president who delivers results for the American people,” she wrote. “No matter what happens in the debate, that’s an easy choice.”

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Hillary Clinton warns Biden on Trump faceoff: Not a 'normal' debater