Readers Write: Trump’s Hitler comments, how his supporters see him, how Harris’ supporters see her

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

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While former President Donald Trump tries to denigrate American generals who criticize him in this political campaign, he reportedly lauds Adolf Hitler’s generals in Nazi Germany and wishes American generals would be like them. His statement had nothing to do with their military prowess but that they acquiesced to his genocidal impulses. When the Holocaust Museum opened in Washington, D.C., in 1993, it published a Holocaust encyclopedia, and this is what it said about Hitler’s generals, some of whom were tried and convicted of war crimes and put to death:

“The results of these policies were catastrophic. The murder squads shot and gassed between 1.5 and 2 million people by the end of 1942: most victims were Jews, but Communists, people with disabilities, and suspected partisans were also murdered. Over 2 million POWs and untold numbers of civilians died from starvation, exhaustion, exposure, and disease. Millions more were put to forced labor in tens of thousands of camps throughout Germany and the occupied territories. Hundreds of villages, towns, and cities were deliberately laid waste.

“When it was all over, the leading generals tried to claim that they had nothing to do with the crimes, that they had never received such orders, even that they had resisted. They fought with honor against a vicious foe, they said. The evidence, however, is overwhelming. They knew about genocide and Nazi atrocities; they approved it, and they encouraged it. The German High Command cooperated fully in the Nazis’ genocidal program, even if the generals liked to pretend they were not Nazis.”

When Hitler invaded Latvia, one of the first things one of his generals did was murder my grandmother, who was disabled, so her life was therefore supposedly not worth living. To hear Trump talk about how he would like his generals to be like Hitler’s is beyond disgusting.

John Freivalds, Orono

The writer is honorary consul for Latvia.

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Trump has stated he wished he had generals like Hitler had, according to former Trump White House Chief of Staff John Kelly. Why would Trump wish to have generals who were defeated in World War II by American generals? Seems a logical desire would be to pick the winners, unless there was something else about the German generals he found desirable.

James Halvorson, Farmington

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Hitler is back in the campaign. And the Democratic Party is getting very nervous. They are worried that Vice President Kamala Harris is not performing well on the campaign trail. They see their internal polling and recognize this as desperation time. In one of their latest smears, they are trying to equate Trump with Hitler. That, of course, is beyond vile and over the top. But the left doesn’t care. Neither does the Star Tribune (per the front-page, above-the-fold headline). In a country with free speech like America, you can say it, but anybody who does should lose all respect from others and simply be shut down. The latest to come out with these ridiculous and hateful tropes is John Kelly. He hates Trump and wants him to lose. He says that Trump admires Hitler and some of Hitler’s generals, and that Trump has fascist tendencies. Harris says she concurs with the assessment that Trump is a fascist. However, did we ever see these Hitler-like or fascist tendencies in Trump’s first four years? No. Did we ever see the rounding up of Trump’s opponents and sending them off to concentration camps? No. This is nothing but a last-minute, pathetic smear by a disgruntled Kelly. Remember, if Trump doesn’t like the job you’re doing, you’re out! That’s what happened to Kelly.

These Kelly statements are unverified and most likely a bunch of garbage. Anyone using these tropes, on either side, should be shut down, sidelined and excoriated. But this is how the Trump haters and the far left roll. There are apparently no limits on the smears and lies coming from the party of love and joy.

Mike Morris, St. Louis Park

As someone who has voted in presidential elections since 1978, including several votes for Democratic candidates for president, I can say with great confidence that Vice President Kamala Harris is the least intelligent and most unaccomplished candidate for president I have ever witnessed.

Her entire platform is based on either bashing former President Donald Trump or making vague and unsupported promises with no specific policy provisions. Her interviews are the worst I have ever seen because of her word salads of nonsense and evasiveness in answering questions.

Furthermore, she admitted in her media interviews that she had no regrets about President Joe Biden’s policies and would not have changed those failed policies.

Trump, on the other hand, has shown why he delivered a better economy, better border policy, better energy prices and better foreign policy. He will do specific things that will boost the economy like increasing oil production to lower energy prices and reduce resulting inflation, lower corporate taxes to keep American businesses from fleeing the country and bolstering manufacturing jobs in America, and getting control of our borders to reduce social welfare costs and illegal drugs and crime by illegal aliens.

The election choice is clear. The logical and results-focused voters will vote for Trump based upon his past, proven success and his clearly stated objectives. The emotionally charged and illogical voters who lack either the interest or ability to recognize cause-and-effect relationships will likely vote for Harris.

I can only hope that the logical and more reasoned voters among us will ensure that Trump is elected.

Corby Pelto, Minneapolis

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What the two presidential candidates are selling this election cycle? Nonsense and common sense.

First, the nonsense. That it’s OK to open up our borders, let millions of illegal migrants into America, then have the U.S. taxpayer pick up the tab. That it’s OK to give billions of dollars to foreign governments to fund wars, when we could be using the money to help our own citizens first. That it’s OK to go easy on criminals who break the law and then face little or no personal consequences. That it’s OK for us to pay for your neighbor’s kid’s college tuition. That it’s OK to base hiring solely on the color of someone’s skin or their gender. That it’s OK to just leave billions of dollars of military equipment to the bad guys in Afghanistan. That it’s OK to let biological males compete against biological females. That it’s OK for America to remain energy dependent when we can be energy independent. And that it’s OK for us to place our vote for the next U.S. president solely on hatred and abortion.

Now, the common sense: Just the opposite of the above.

Neil F. Anderson, Richfield

The biggest question is seldom asked when it comes to voting. It is not former President Donald Trump vs. Vice President Kamala Harris. It is, “Do we want our democratic system of government to continue?” It doesn’t seem so, for half of our voters. Do we really want a president who vows to end this system, saying that we may never have to vote again? Really? Putting all our faith and our historic government at risk? For one very strange and self-centered man?

I’m a Democrat, but I can take losing an election even if the GOP takes both houses — but not to a man who has said “you won’t have to vote any more” if he is elected president. We’ve been voting for president every four years for almost 250 years. I don’t want to see that end. Does anyone? Well, apparently, you-know-who does: the Donald.

Does the GOP really want to take that risk? Look what happened in Germany less than 100 years ago. The answer to the question “Could it happen here?” is not “Let’s see.” It should be “Never.” Don’t risk our system of government for this one man. Instead win both houses if you’ve got the votes. That’s our democracy ... if we can keep it.

Jim Lein, Minneapolis