Biden should warn viewers to be wary of Trump’s constant victim-blaming and evasive behavior, including from the law, the courts, and the American people. As the debate progresses, Biden can highlight instances where Trump boasts without achieving results, shifts the blame, or puts his own interests above those of average Americans.
Early in the debate, Biden was critical in calmly and dispassionately defining Trump as a man unfit for any public office: “Donald, you are a convicted felon. You’ve also been convicted of sexual abuse, been fined for massive business fraud, driven multiple companies into bankruptcy and failed to pay creditors, workers, investors and, at times, even your own lawyers. Someone with your criminal record would not be able to pass a background check for security at your local mall.”
Biden should remind voters of the astonishing fact that dozens of Trump appointees, including Vice President Mike Pence, Secretary of Defense Mark Esper and Chief of Staff John Kelly, have refused to even vote for him, let alone support him. Biden should also add: “Donald, some of the people who know you best are the ones who trust you the least.”
Biden should consistently emphasize the fact that he works for the American people, while Trump only works for himself and his wealthy cronies. Biden can make a compelling case: “Not only are we creating millions of jobs, we’re working to curb inflation. We’re lowering drug prices and attacking the exorbitant fees that corporations charge consumers. We’re supporting workers’ right to organize. We’re seeking to raise the minimum wage to $15 an hour. We’ve capped the price of life-saving insulin at $35 a month for millions of people with diabetes. We’re reducing student loan debt and tackling climate change. We’re creating millions of new jobs that don’t require a college degree. Now I want to finish the work we started.”
“Donald, your only real accomplishment was massive, budget-busting tax cuts that were heavily weighted towards corporations and the super-rich. Now you’re promising to cut taxes on the wealthy even more — including your own.”
Biden should forcefully point out that Trump is the only president since the Great Depression who left office with fewer people in the workforce than when he took office. “We actually lost jobs during your term. But since the day I took the oath of office, millions of new jobs have been created. The unemployment rate is at an all-time low. Wages are now rising faster than the rate of inflation. The stock market and pension funds are at all-time highs. The legislation I helped pass is creating new factories, bridges, roads and other investments across this country. You bragged about ‘infrastructure’ but did nothing. I accomplished that goal, including in states that didn’t vote for me.”
In addition to drawing an important contrast, Biden should emphasize the very high stakes: American freedom, the rule of law, and human rights at home and abroad are at stake in November. “You packed the Supreme Court with extremists who have stripped women of their right to control their pregnancies.” Given the chance, MAGA extremists would take away the right to contraception, sterilization, and same-sex and interracial marriage. “Donald, you have hijacked the once-great Republican Party.”
Biden should express deep disgust for the way Trump coddles brutal dictators. “You envy their absolute power, even their ability to kill their enemies. You prefer Russian President Putin to America’s own intelligence services. You fawn over China’s Xi Jinping and praise his response to the COVID-19 epidemic. You have, Donald himself said, “fallen in love” with North Korea’s Kim Jong Un, a murderous tyrant. You will reward Russia’s attack on Ukraine by destroying the alliances that have kept Europe and Asia safe for decades.”
MAGA groups have made a big issue out of Biden’s age, but Biden should give Trump an age kick back: “As Donald gets older, he seems to get more and more insane. His rhetoric is uglier and more hateful than ever. He calls his political opponents ‘vermin’ and ‘fascists.’ He claims immigrants are ‘poisoning the blood of our country.'”
To win the debate, Biden will need to demonstrate his political strength and aptitude. Taking on a tyrant like Trump is Biden’s best hope of shaping the rest of the campaign and winning the election.
John Sasso, a campaign manager who has prepared several candidates for presidential debates, discovered Biden’s speeches were similar to those of British Labour leader Neil Kinnock in the 1988 presidential election, which led to Biden’s withdrawal from the campaign.
