DEAR EDITOR:

I watched the train wreck of a presidential debate and can only conclude that neither Joe Biden nor Donald Trump is fit for the highest office of the land.

Biden struggled with words and answered Trump in a very non-sequitur manner. If he cannot debate effectively against his opponent, how is he supposed to handle bigger issues involving national security, budgets and the ballooning national debt? Dysphagia is real — a real red flag of much larger issues cognitively. While I understand that Biden’s handlers attributed it to a cold and a booked schedule prior to the debate, I cannot help but wonder how, or if, he would respond to a much larger threat. Would he struggle to figure out what to do? Would he struggle with the launch codes if something nefarious as nuclear war broke out? That is a very scary proposition. How, may I ask, can he speak with heads of state on serious issues while struggling to find the correct words?

Trump fared no better. When asked difficult questions, he either circled back to a previous point two questions before or simply dodged it altogether. One of the moderators, Jake Tapper, asked point blank what Trump intended to do about climate change. No answer whatsoever. He ignored the question completely, which shows, in my opinion, a serious personality disorder. Again, how is this candidate supposed to interact with others while in a fog of narcissism? A lot of “I” and “me” there, folks. A lot of credit for things that were fact-checked after the debate and shot down outright.

In my opinion, both of these candidates need to step aside. Neither one has the mental fortitude to lead this country away from divisiveness, handle big issues that are a threat to us from within and outside, try to fix our unsustainable debt with reasonable measures and to be trusted with being the leader of the free world. Both of these men need to look in the mirror, and instead of thinking about themselves, think about the country, and very possibly, our survival as a democracy.

If given the chance on the ballot, I would vote “no confidence” at this point.

BRIAN FIX

Youngstown