Trump loves low blows, but voters want a clean debate. Biden shouldn’t take the bait.

By Colbert I. King,

Tuesday’s presidential debate at Case Western Reserve University in Cleveland is not expected to be anything like the “Rumble in the Jungle” between boxers Muhammad Ali and George Foreman on Oct. 30, 1974, in what was then known as Zaire. But if President Trump behaves true to form in his first face-to-face exchange with former vice president Joe Biden, count on an onstage spectacle just the same.

Fox News’s Chris Wallace will moderate, and once again Trump just can’t resist the urge to try to work the referee, as he did when NBC’s Lester Holt moderated Trump’s September 2016 debate with Hillary Clinton. In advance of that event, Trump accused Holt of being a Democrat set on rigging the debate and running “a very unfair system.” Holt, a veteran journalist (who had been a registered Republican since 2003), played it straight, holding Trump and Clinton to the same standard. This time Trump is predicting that the “radical left” — not known to have a lot of sway at Fox — will somehow force Wallace to go easy on Biden.

Wallace, who also moderated the Trump-Clinton faceoff held Oct. 19, 2016, at the University of Nevada at Las Vegas, knows that Trump loves to throw low blows and lie through his teeth. Rest assured, Wallace is ready for the displays of incivility that attend so much of Trump’s life. Hope it’s true, too, of the moderators in the debates to follow.

What you aren’t likely to see Tuesday is a repeat of Trump’s attempts at intimidation. In the Las Vegas debate, Trump left his seat and invaded Clinton’s personal space to hulk over the shorter Clinton as she answered questions. Against Biden, he wouldn’t dare try that without Secret Service agents at his side. Undoubtedly, there will be other Trump stunts.

The question is whether Biden is prepared for the insults, untruths and uncouth behavior set to come his way. Either way, let’s hope Wallace doesn’t put up with Trump’s distractions for long, because the designated debate topics offer a rich field for exploration. The voters want and deserve a clean contest.

Voters will want to hear out Trump and Biden on the handling of covid-19, on racial reckoning and urban unrest, on the economy, on free and fair elections, and on the nominees’ records of service. The public can decide how well Trump’s and Biden’s positions hold up under close scrutiny and cross-examination — provided the candidates stick with the issues.

A night of gloves-off combativeness would only shed more light on the vulgarity that Trump has brought to the presidency.

Biden’s challenge is to not take the bait or let Trump pull him into an ugly wrestling match on the mat.

Recall Trump’s reference to the size of his penis in the Republican debate in Detroit in March 2016? During an earlier Republican primary campaign appearance, Sen. Marco Rubio (Fla.) responded to Trump having called him “Little Marco” by joking: “Have you seen his hands? And you know what they say about men with small hands. . . .” Trump jumped to the defense of his manhood.

Biden shouldn’t descend to schoolyard stuff, trading Trump insult for insult.

Keep attention where it belongs: Trump’s outrageous claims and monstrous failures.

Trump’s idiotic assertion that he has done more for African Americans than any president since Abraham Lincoln ought to get him laughed offstage. Biden only needs to point to Harry Truman, the first president to personally and publicly commit himself and the federal government to civil rights and the president who desegregated the armed forces. He should bring up the name of Lyndon Johnson, who supported passage of the Civil Rights Act and the Voting Rights Act and signed them into law. Even Ronald Reagan, no civil rights champion, supported the law that created the federal holiday honoring the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr.

[Sign up for The Odds newsletter for election updates from data columnist David Byler]

Biden should also set the record straight on the economy during the Obama-Biden years.

Trump needs reminding that the Obama-Biden administration took office when the country was confronted with the worst economic crisis since the Great Depression. Through their economic stewardship, an economy in free fall had been turned around and was climbing when it was handed off to Trump, who proceeded to drag it down with his xenophobic trade disputes and his mishandling of the coronavirus pandemic. Now the only numbers growing are Trump’s massive, running deficits and America’s rising covid-19 death toll.

Come to think of it, the “Rumble in the Jungle” pitted the incumbent champion Foreman hoping to land haymakers against a savvy Ali, skilled in deflecting wild shots. Didn’t turn out so well for Foreman, who lost his title that night.

Tune in to Cleveland on Tuesday. It may not be the “Debate of the Century,” but perhaps another titleholder will go down for the count.

Read more from Colbert King’s archive.

Read more: Max Boot: Trump is the worst threat to our democracy since the 1930s Jonathan Capehart: Honor Ginsburg and Lewis: ‘Vote him out’ Fareed Zakaria: Trump could stay in power even if he doesn’t win the election. The Constitution allows it. Max Boot: The most damning verdict on Trump is delivered by his own aides Jennifer Rubin: How Biden immediately begins to restore good governance