I did not watch the June 27 presidential debate. I could not bear to witness a bully with no boundaries attack a fine human being like Joe Biden.

What the president failed to consider, when he signed on to debate Mr. Trump, was that it would be an unfair contest – rigged in the former president’s favor. Gone are the days of Kennedy facing Nixon in a factual, carefully controlled and informative debate of the issues. Gone, too, is decorum, the respect that public figures usually showed for each other even when their views were far apart.

Presidential debates have become nothing more than reality TV. And Mr. Trump, star of the popular “The Apprentice” TV show, is a master of this medium. He made a good living from the show, and from being a showman, while Biden was doing the job of a public servant.

Hampered by an aging mind, some speaking difficulties, an out-of-date playbook and his basic decency, Biden is no match for this made-for-TV tyrant.

Without having to say, “You’re fired!” Mr. Trump appears to have accomplished just that. It’s time for the Democrats to find a younger candidate who can play this new game and slay the orange-haired fraudster. And give Mr. Biden the huge round of applause he rightly deserves for all he has done.

Arthur Benedict
Peaks Island