Readers Write: Chris Madel running for governor, Trump’s comments on Somali Minnesotans

Opinion editor’s note: Strib Voices publishes letters from readers online and in print each day. To contribute, click here.

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The DFL response to Chris Madel’s gubernatorial launch was both shocking and disappointing (“Mpls. attorney Madel running against Walz,” Nov. 2). The party has long championed fairness, due process and second chances. In recent years, DFL lawmakers have supported meaningful expungement reform, restoring voting rights to tens of thousands of Minnesotans on probation or parole, advanced “ban the box” hiring reforms to help people with records secure employment, backed sentencing reforms intended to reduce unnecessary incarceration and expanded funding for re-entry, mental-health and rehabilitation programs. These efforts reflect a party that has positioned itself as a leader on criminal-justice reform and a defender of the dignity of people touched by the justice system.

That is why the rhetoric in the DFL’s news release was so jarring. It used sweeping language that painted “criminals” as irredeemable and unworthy of representation. Such framing contradicts the values the party has promoted in its legislative work and public commitments.

Equally troubling was the suggestion that an attorney is morally compromised simply for representing an unpopular defendant. The right to counsel is a foundational American principle. John Adams famously defended the British soldiers after the Boston Massacre not because he supported them, but because he believed fairness mattered even when emotions ran high. Defense attorneys safeguard rights that protect every Minnesotan, whether they ever need one or not.

The DFL appears interested in undermining Madel’s conservative chops. Have at it. But don’t do it by questioning the ethics and integrity of the many hardworking criminal-defense attorneys who are among the few who will actually stand next to and up for the very groups the DFL claims to support.

Jill Brisbois, Minneapolis

I’m a Democrat, so it’s none of my business whether Madel would be the best Republican candidate for governor. But Minnesota DFL chair Richard Carlbom was way out of line when he said Madel, a lawyer, was disqualified because he has represented defendants in criminal cases. The Sixth Amendment to the Constitution provides that if you are charged with a crime you are entitled to the effective assistance of counsel. Being that counsel is a key responsibility in our system of justice, not a disqualification.

I served as the Minnesota state public defender for 24 years, and I often told people, “We don’t do this work because we like crime. We do it because we love living in a country where people have rights.”

John Stuart, Minneapolis

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Minnesota is at a crossroads, and Gov. Tim Walz is not the leader we need to guide us forward. As a lifelong Democrat, and parent, I believe it is irresponsible for him to seek a third term. Throughout his tenure, he has repeatedly shown poor leadership and has consistently denied responsibility for negative outcomes under his watch. The fraud crises now regularly making national headlines, and creating embarrassment for Minnesotans, are the most recent examples. State audit reports have uncovered repeated instances of fiscal mismanagement and lack of oversight within this administration, yet neither Walz nor his political appointees have taken responsibility for the mismanagement of taxpayer dollars.

Secretary of State Steve Simon has the experience and background needed to restore sound management to state government and deliver the results Minnesotans expect and deserve. Simon’s experience running statewide elections and legal background are the skills the state needs right now, not a hyperpartisan politician more interested in engaging in national-level ideological fights.

Jamie Fritts, White Bear Lake

Every thinking person wants to see the end of the rampant fraud schemes that have stolen Minnesotans’ money and eroded social trust. I’m grateful to the federal government for stepping in to address the problem, since the DFL state government officials who allowed thieves to rob us taxpayers blind clearly can’t get the job done.

Based on convictions to date, the majority of people involved in those frauds are of Somali heritage. Unfortunately, though, the president chose to engage in straight-up racism on the topic Tuesday, stating from the White House that Somalis in Minnesota “contribute nothing” and “aren’t people that work.”

False. There are approximately 80,000 Somalis in Minnesota. About 70% of the working-aged population is employed. Approximately 64% of Somalis in Minnesota live above the poverty line. About 16% of Somalis in Minnesota have a bachelor’s degree or higher. (All info is from the Wilder Foundation’s Minnesota Compass project.)

But those numbers also represent tens of thousands of individual Somalis in Minnesota already working and contributing, rebutting the president’s rhetoric.

When the woke left clumps people together based on immutable characteristics such as race or gender or country of origin, we conservatives properly cry foul, since that way of thinking dehumanizes individual human beings, strips them of agency, ignores the facts and injects tribalism into our fragile society. It’s not any better when the president does the same.

Cam Winton, Minneapolis

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If we were to take President Donald Trump’s reasoning about Somalis to heart, then we should also deport Germans and denaturalize those who have become American citizens. Trump spent most of his adult life being a corrupt businessman. He has contempt for the law and the Constitution. He has behaved like a foul-mouthed bully. His grandparents immigrated here from Germany. If we were to judge all Germans by Trump, we would conclude that they are all unfit to be in this country.

Fortunately, most of us know better than that. We know that one bad apple does not characterize a whole group.

Fred Quivik, St. Paul

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Regarding Somali Americans, our president just said, “We don’t want them in our country.” How dare he suggest that we are all as hate-minded as he. Many of us welcome Somali (and other) immigrants and the many positive roles they play in our society. Our president further stated that Somali Americans should “go back to [the country] where they came from and fix it.” On the contrary: They should stay here and help us all fix the mess that Trump has created.

Mark Brandt, Minneapolis

When asked on “Meet the Press” about the developing stories about millions of dollars of fraud in Minnesota, Gov. Tim Walz’s response was that “Minnesota is a generous state. Minnesota is a prosperous state ... But that attracts criminals.” That is not good enough. Walz should withdraw his candidacy for governor before he does to the Democratic Party in Minnesota what Joe Biden’s insistence on running again for president did to the Democratic Party in America.

Donn Satrom, Roseville

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Once again our president has displayed his total lack of class, this time by labeling U.S. Rep. Ilhan Omar as “garbage.”

I doubt that she is terribly bothered by this infantile display. After all, it could have been much worse — he could have endorsed her.