Readers Write: The presidential debate, antisemitism at the U of M, Twins TV coverage

Opinion editor’s note: Star Tribune Opinion publishes letters from readers online and in print each day. To contribute, click here.

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In this time of political division, I have two takeaways from the presidential debate that most folks might agree with. First, neither candidate deserves to be elected. President Joe Biden because he could not give clear, cogent answers to the questions put to him. Former President Donald Trump because he would not. Second, unless and until the political parties offer up candidates who provide evidence that they can address the critical problems facing our nation, we are in real trouble.

Roger B. Day, Duluth

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The “debate” last night was the saddest live event I have witnessed since the very first presidential debate in 1960 between Richard Nixon and John Kennedy. Nixon was sweating profusely, while Kennedy was cool and calm. Nixon lost that year.

The smile on Trump’s face was like the cat that swallowed the canary — and he did!

Jean Efron, Hopkins

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If it wasn’t clear before last night, it is now. It is time for Biden to step aside. It was truly painful watching the debate — lies on one side of the stage and a lot of incoherence on the other. A randomly chosen high school debate team member with a little time to prep — and it would not have taken the week that our president had — could have literally pummeled Trump for his lies and misstatements given the structure of the debate and the constant stream of demonstrably false information coming from the former president. Please consider urging everyone you know to call for a change before it is too late. Personally, I’d like to see the Democrats draft Hakeem Jeffries, current House minority leader. He knows policy, knows how to legislate and has earned respect from elected officials of all kinds. He would also be a help, not a hindrance, in down-ballot races. C’mon America, what do you have to lose besides an election?

Steven L. Bonfig, Maplewood

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It’s a sad day for America when the person who lied with confidence was deemed to have won the debate over the man who had substantive and factual answers. Biden had a cold and his lifelong stutter often made him sound hesitant.

Trump didn’t just repeat a couple of lies — his answers were a constant string of lies and exaggerations. He repeatedly talked about how other world leaders had so much respect for him and how they have no respect for Biden. But some of us remember how the delegates at the U.N. laughed at him when he talked about how his administration was the best in the history of the U.S. Massive protests greeted Trump when he traveled to France and the U.K., while Biden has received respectful welcomes in his travels to the E.U.

CNN failed us by not moderating the debate — there were no fact checks, they never tried to have Trump answer the questions, they never asked about Project 2025. We are in danger of losing our democracy. Trump has said he would be a dictator on day one of his presidency and that he would seek retribution against his enemies. The GOP’s Project 2025 spells out in over 900 pages how they would place the entire federal bureaucracy under presidential control, dismantle departments like education, restrict voting rights, etc. CNN had no questions, no concerns about the future of our democracy.

We needed an actual debate of programs and policies — not a carnival sideshow where “performance” was all-important and truth and honesty were irrelevant.

Terry Burke, St. Louis Park

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The American public needed no analysis from political pundits for last night’s presidential debate — it was clearly Feeble Old Guy vs. Big Fat Liar. Other countries must be aghast watching this folly that our parties have continually propped up in fear of losing their long-standing power and momentum. How different (and yes, young!) if we saw Nikki Haley, or even the less prominent Dean Phillips, truly giving us facts on their passions and motivations. Both the Democratic and Republican parties are failing us.

Judy Lai Palermo, Shoreview

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As someone in her mid-80s living in independent living at Episcopal Homes, I’m familiar with the confused, bewildered look on President Biden’s face during the first part of debate last night. When I, or others in my building, demonstrate confusion, our neighbors, family and staff gently guide us into assisted living. And none of us are making decisions that affect the nation and the world. Biden has been a marvelous president. I hope he goes out with grace. The people close to him, and in our Democratic Party, must have the courage to guide him on his way out. Otherwise, the evil, maniac man who used to be president will get elected.

Kathleen Vellenga, St. Paul

The writer is a former Minnesota state representative (1981-1994).

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I watched “Grumpy Old Men” on Thursday and I don’t mean the movie. Both parties should be embarrassed by who they have decided to let represent them to the world. One couldn’t remember his lines and the other couldn’t remember the questions. I hope neither one gets the nomination at their convention.

Robert Shearer, Lake St. Croix Beach

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The Democratic Party needs to make its convention a real nominating convention. I urge the Democratic leadership to open its convention to allow a slate of candidates to make their case for being nominated to run for the office of the president of the United States. To continue with Biden is to hand this nation over to Trump. Let the delegates — and the national audience — hear from the likes of Cory Booker, Gavin Newsom, Pete Buttigieg, Gretchen Whitmer, J.B. Pritzker, Stacey Abrams, Elizabeth Warren and others. Let us hear from candidates with solid agendas who can also move and inspire a very worried country.

Deborah Schlick, St. Paul

Kudos to state Sen. Ron Latz for organizing a Senate hearing on antisemitism at the University of Minnesota (”President defends U’s actions,” June 26). Those attending Tuesday’s hearing learned about the widespread antisemitism that has taken place at the U. This includes antisemitic language being scrawled on a U building (“Glory to the resistance” on the Coffman Union wall), chalk messages on the sidewalk of Northrop Mall which read “Victory To Al-Aqsa Flood” (“Al Aqsa Flood” is what Hamas called the Oct. 7 attack on Israel) and chants of “from the river to the sea” by pro-Palestinian protesters during their encampments on campus.

According to the U’s statistics, one third of all reported bias incidents over the past academic year involved antisemitic or anti-Israel conduct while Jewish students comprise only about 1% of the undergraduate student population. The latest antisemitic incident took place on June 7 when four shots were fired from BB guns into the windows of the U’s Jewish Hillel House.

When we look back at history we need to remember that disturbing language and destructive actions lead to disastrous consequences, as it did in Nazi Germany, which ultimately led to the death of 6 million Jews and hundreds of thousands of non-Jewish people including LGBTQ, physically and mentally disabled people and others. Let’s hope that when students return to campus this fall and the new U President Rebecca Cunningham begins her tenure, there will be a positive change at the U in regards to antisemitism.

Sylvia Fine, Minneapolis

After a long winter of looking forward to baseball, we get one month of TV coverage of the Twins. And then corporate behemoths, Bally Sports and Comcast, can’t come to any agreement on a new contract and now allegedly aren’t even talking. So as a loyal fan, I called the Twins office to see where things were at in this situation. A nice woman in Twins’ customer service told me that they hadn’t heard anything about this disagreement since it started and they aren’t involved in negotiations and have no influence to resolve the problem.

What? That’s like saying when two kids are fighting on the playground, the teacher has no influence in getting the youngsters to shake hands and fix their spat. Twins management must do better! Because now on July 4, not only will we miss Joey Chestnut, but fans in 12 metro markets won’t be watching their baseball teams either. Sad.

Diane Rifkin, Bloomington