President Joe Bidenright, and the Republican presidential candidate, former US President Donald Trumpattend the CNN presidential debate at the CNN studios on June 27, 2024 in Atlanta, Georgia. (Photo by Justin Sullivan/Getty Images)

To the US Senator. Kevin CramerThe surprising thing about Thursday night's debate was that people were surprised at how hard President Joe Biden struggled.

“I don't know if that was because the Democrats have been burying their heads in the sand all these months and years, or if it was just a more dramatic expression of Joe Biden's problems,” said Cramer, R-N.D.

Although Cramer believes Donald Trump won the debate, he wishes both candidates had stuck to their policies and not attacked personally.

“I don’t think anyone really cares who has the better golf game,” Cramer told the North Dakota Monitor.

Katrina Christiansen, the Democratic Party candidate who is running against Cramer in November, said there have been candidates and presidents in the past who have performed poorly in debates and still won the election, citing Ronald Reagan and George W. Bush as examples.

Christiansen said one way to ease concerns about the presidency is through an effective Congress.

“We have a vacuum when it comes to legislation,” Christiansen said in an interview. “They're just there to get rich or to get in the news or to get attention, and that's extremely frustrating to me.”

Democrat Trygve Hammer, who is running for North Dakota's only seat in the U.S. House of Representatives, said the debate did not address the issues facing family farms and ranches.

“We cannot trust any president, regardless of party, to fix this,” Hammer said in a statement. “We need decisive action from Congress to protect our family farms and ranches from corporate mergers and unfair trade practices that are decimating our rural communities.”

Hammer explicitly called for the reintroduction of origin labelling in the agricultural law.

Republican candidate for the U.S. House of Representatives Julie Fedorchak said in a statement that “Biden’s Weak leadership harms our country, hurts our citizens, and creates uncertainty in our world.”

The article “North Dakota federal candidates react to Trump-Biden debate” first appeared in the North Dakota Monitor.