In Donald Trump vs. Fox News, who won? #tellusatoday

Letter to the editor:

Are you kidding me? Donald Trump can sure dish it out, but he can’t seem to take it. As a result of a skirmish with Fox News, Trump decided to take his ball and go home, skipping the GOP debate Thursday (“No-shows at the GOP debate: Our view”).

Is that the behavior (or arrogance) we would expect of our president? It’s obvious that the last thing we need today is to fuel more division, tension and anger. To heal and grow, we require leaders capable of reconciling differences, building trust and finding common ground — across the congressional aisle and the oceans.

Instead, we seem to be attracted to the entertainment value of a person who breeds division. While this may reflect Trump as a person, it will not reflect well on us as a nation.

Mark D. Sauter; Midland, Mich.

POLICING THE USA: A look at race, justice, media

Comments from Facebook are edited for clarity and grammar:

Good for Donald Trump! Hey, Fox News, the people choose who wins, not you. Trump has shown he is a man of principle.

— Joseph Dietz

The candidates seemed much more at ease without Trump on stage. It proves that as tough as they talk, their ability to handle confrontational situations is lacking.

— Jon Cann

Too bad Trump didn’t show at the debate! But I understand. Fox News was the loser here. It’s good he did something to benefit our veterans instead.

— Shawn Griffith

If people weren’t so fed up with the past presidencies, they would run away from the angry, nasty Trump. It’s too bad people are angry enough to jump onto the Trump-mobile!

— Theresa Blades

There are too many debates. They give candidates an opportunity to polish their replies to the same questions.

And when asked a different question, the candidates get adept at turning the response into their own canned answers about what they want to emphasize. It is just one canned answer after another.

Fox News should have stopped after its first debate. Voters don’t learn anything new.

— Bob Rejefski Sr

We asked our followers which candidate won Thursday’s Republican presidential debate. Comments from Twitter are edited for clarity and grammar:

Sen. Rand Paul was definitely the winner. I forgot everyone else was there. He was articulate and stayed on topic.

— @mom2many317

Sen. Marco Rubio won the debate and gets my vote.

— @YvonneG52286220

There was no debate. All the candidates weren't there.

— @M2Chalet

Sen. Ted Cruz was terrible in the debate. He came off as too rehearsed, pandering, cold and calculating.

— @heymjm

For more discussions, follow @USATOpinion or #tellusatoday.