Last week, I had a great time at the Tony Awards introducing songs from “Suffs,” the Broadway musical I co-produced about the suffragists who won the right to vote for women. I was so thrilled when the musical won Best Original Score and Best Book.
From “Suffs” to “Hamilton,” I love political theater. But not the other way around. Too often, we approach important moments like this week’s debate between President Biden and President Donald Trump like theater critics: We’re picking a president, not a “best actor.”
I am the only person who debated both Trump in 2016 and Senator Biden in the 2008 Democratic Presidential Primary. I know the excruciating pressure of being on that stage and how nearly impossible it is to concentrate on the content when Trump is involved. In the three debates in 2016, Trump unleashed a storm of interruptions, insults and lies that overwhelmed the moderators and did a disservice to the voters who tuned in to hear his vision for the country. The first debate drew a record 84 million viewers.
Trying to refute Trump’s arguments as in a normal debate is a waste of time. It’s almost impossible to even tell what his arguments are. He starts with nonsense and then goes off on a tangent. It’s been years since we’ve debated, and this has only gotten worse. It’s no surprise that after a recent meeting, several CEOs said that Trump “can’t think straight” and is “disorganized,” as one journalist put it. But expectations for Trump are so low that some would say he would have been a very presidential figure if he hadn’t literally spit fire on Thursday night.
Trump’s rants may be to avoid honest answers about his unpopular positions on abortion restrictions, tax cuts for billionaires, selling the planet to big oil companies for campaign contributions, etc. He interrupts and intimidates to gain the upper hand and confuse his opponents, at one point tailing me onstage.
These tactics will fail if President Biden is direct and tough, as he was when he confronted Republican hecklers in his State of the Union address in March. The president also has facts and truth: He has led an American recovery from a historic health and economic crisis that has created more than 15 million jobs, increased incomes for working families, slowed inflation and has seen investment in clean energy and advanced manufacturing soar. If that story plays out, he will win.
In 2016, I prepared intensely for the debates, knowing I had to find a way to navigate Trump’s shenanigans and help the American people understand what’s really at stake. We shared a 90-minute mock debate on the same stage, practicing staying calm in the face of tough questions and outright lies about my record and character. My longtime advisers played Trump, doing everything they could to provoke, unsettle and infuriate me. And it worked.
Unfortunately, Biden starts at a disadvantage because he doesn’t have as much time to prepare as I did eight years ago. Being president isn’t just a day-to-day job; it’s a job of being everywhere and doing everything at once. Historically, that has led to incumbent presidents performing poorly in the first debate.
As viewers, we should try not to get caught up in the theatricality. Instead, here are three things to focus on:
First, pay attention to how candidates talk about people, not just policies. In the third debate with Trump, he promised to appoint a Supreme Court justice who would overturn Roe v. Wade. I responded that this would have real effects on real women. Trump had already said that women should be punished for having abortions. “You should meet the women I’ve met,” I told him. “I’ve been to countries where governments force women to have abortions, as they once did in China, or force women to give birth, as they once did in Romania, and I can say with certainty that the government should not interfere with decisions that women make with their families, following their faith or the advice of their doctors.”
Trump will probably say on Thursday that he wants to leave abortion to the states. He wants that to sound moderate. But in reality it means supporting the most extreme abortion bans that many states already impose, and all the extreme restrictions that will be put in place in the future. Trump should be held responsible for the 12-year-old girl in Mississippi who was raped and then forced to give birth. She started seventh grade with a newborn baby in her arms because of the state’s strict abortion ban. Trump is also to blame for the Louisiana girl who went into labor hugging a teddy bear because she couldn’t get an abortion. Studies show that women living under abortion bans are up to three times more likely to die during pregnancy, childbirth, or shortly after giving birth. Because of Trump, one in three women of reproductive age now lives under such restrictions..
Biden is one of the most empathetic leaders we’ve ever had. Listen to how he speaks so genuinely about women’s rights, the struggles of working families, opportunity for people of color, and the courage of the men and women of Ukraine who risk their lives for democracy. Trump can’t do that because he only thinks about himself.
Second, try to see through the big words and focus on the underlying issues at stake. In 2016, Trump refused to say whether he would accept the election results. “I’m going to keep you all on edge,” he said. “That’s not how our democracy works,” I replied. “Let me clarify what he’s saying and what it means.” There’s a direct line from that exchange to the deadly riots at the U.S. Capitol on January 6, 2021.
This time, we expect Trump to blame Biden for inflation while avoiding answering questions about his economic plan. Trump has no choice but to evade or lie, because his proposals to cut taxes for the super-rich, gut Obamacare, deport millions of workers, and impose flat tariffs on everyday goods would exacerbate inflation, raise costs for American families, and cause a recession. This is not my prediction, but that of Wall Street’s Moody’s Analytics. Experts at the nonpartisan Peterson Institute for International Economics estimate that Trump’s tariffs alone could effectively raise the average American family’s annual tax revenue by $1,700 or more.
Biden, meanwhile, is clearly eager to talk about his cost-cutting plans. He’s stood up to powerful pharmaceutical companies by signing legislation that caps insulin prices and allows Medicare to negotiate prescription drug prices for the first time. Look out Thursday for plans to combat corporate price gouging and make gas, groceries and housing more affordable. The president has already helped one in 10 Americans with federal student loans get much-needed relief. He’ll likely be ready to offer more ideas to help young people get a strong start and live a middle-class life.
Third, seeing these two men side by side makes me think about the real choice in this election: the choice between chaos and competence.
Trump has been convicted of 34 felonies and is also accused of sexual assault and financial fraud. He has put himself first all his life. If he returns to the White House, there will be more inflation and less freedom. It won’t just be a rehash of his first term. Since losing the 2020 election, Trump has become more angry and erratic. His former Secretary of Defense says he is a “threat to democracy.” His former Chief of Staff says he has “nothing but contempt for our democratic institutions, our Constitution and the rule of law.” Remember that when you hear Trump complain and vow to retaliate on Thursday.
Biden, by contrast, is a smart, sensible man who fights hard for working families. Yes, he’s 81 — just three years older than Trump — and his lifetime of service and experience has helped him get things done that make our country stronger and make all of us better, from bringing together Democrats and Republicans to repair our crumbling roads and bridges to standing up to Russian aggression.
This election is between a convicted felon out for revenge and a president who will get results for the American people. No matter what happens in the debates, it’s an easy choice.
Hillary Rodham Clinton is the 2016 Democratic presidential candidate and a former United States Secretary of State and New York Senator.
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