SPECIAL: Robert Marovich's Response to Peggy Noonan, Opinion Columnist at the Wall Street Journal

©2024 Laurel J. Delaney.  All rights reserved.

The letter below by Robert Marovich, Chicago, Illinois, was not accepted for publication at the Wall Street Journal yet I felt it was important to share with the world.  It is in response to a column by Peggy Noonan, "The Most Important Presidential Debate Ever" (Saturday/Sunday, June 29-30, 2024).  Unfortunately the column has a paywall, otherwise I would share the link.  I took a photo of it for your review so you can appreciate Bob Marovich's letter and put it into context.

"Dear Editor:

I read Peggy Noonan's column regularly because I respect her experience, appreciate her depth of knowledge, and appreciate her cogent arguments. I always will. But I strongly disagree with her description, in "The Most Important Presidential Debate Ever" (June 29 - 30), of former President Donald Trump's demeanor at the debate. He was not "calm, sure-voiced, focused....self-disciplined" He didn't debate - he ranted his greatest hits like a carnival barker on caffeine, delivered more than 30 lies, and even seemed to make some things up on the spot. Hyperbole and inaccurate superlatives, no substance, as usual. 

But what Ms. Noonan failed to mention, and what needs mentioning, is how despicably Mr. Trump spoke of the United States. President Reagan referred to the US as "the shining city on a hill." Trump, in front of more than 50 million viewers, referred several times to the US as a third-world country. Those are fighting words; in times past, proud Americans would have told him to put up his dukes. Would Mr. Reagan have suffered such an insult?

Yes, our nation has many problems, it always has, and we need to fix them, but we are not a third-world country, we are a first-rate country. Any candidate who denigrates his country so vociferously as Mr. Trump did on Thursday shouldn't even qualify for the presidency of a book club. President Biden stumbled significantly during the debate. We saw it. He knows it. I agree with Ms. Noonan that he missed landing several easy punches that could have turned the tide of the debate. But what Mr. Trump said about our nation is unforgivable. He insulted all of us that evening. The party of Ronald Reagan should hold its head in shame that Mr. Trump is the best they can offer." 

Best,

Robert M. Marovich

Chicago, IL