Washington DC, US

Hillary Clinton, former US Secretary of State, said that President Joe Biden is starting from a "disadvantage" against former president Donald Trump during the first 2024 presidential debate on Thursday. In an op-ed published in The New York Times on Monday, Clinton also said she has low expectations for Trump's performance. 

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CNN is hosting Biden and Trump for their first debate of the 2024 campaign in Atlanta as the stage is set for what could be a pivotal moment in the 2024 presidential race. 

Notably, Clinton has debated both Trump and Biden. In 2016, she debated Trump while unsuccessfully running for the White House. She had debated Biden during a presidential primary eight years earlier. 

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It would be a "waste of time" for Biden to attempt to refute Trump's contentions in the debate because "it's nearly impossible to identify what his arguments even are", she said, further adding that Trump "starts with nonsense and then digresses into blather" and this has "gotten only worse in the years since we debated". 

Clinton accused Trump of wanting to "rant and rave in part because he wants to avoid giving straight answers about his unpopular positions, like restrictions on abortion, giving tax breaks to billionaires and selling out our planet to big oil companies in return for campaign donations." 

She claimed that Trump's planning would "fall flat" and would be unsuccessful if Biden "is as direct and forceful as he was" during his State of the Union address in March. 

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"These ploys will fall flat if Mr. Biden is as direct and forceful as he was when engaging Republican hecklers at the State of the Union address in March," Clinton added, referring to the president's address before Congress, which received a generally positive reaction from voters.

She added: "Expectations for him are so low that if he doesn't literally light himself on fire on Thursday evening, some will say he was downright presidential." 

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Meanwhile, referring to Biden's disadvantage, Clinton said: "Unfortunately, Mr. Biden starts from a disadvantage because there's no way he can spend as much time preparing as I did eight years ago." 

"Being president isn't just a day job; it's an everything-everywhere-all-at-once job. Historically, that has led to weaker first debate performances for the incumbent," Clinton added. 

(With inputs from agencies)