In an editorial, the publisher of the staunchly conservative outlet, Joseph McQuaid, who endorsed N.J. Gov. Chris Christie in the state’s presidential primary a year ago, writes voters are “fed up with the status quo, of which [Hillary] Clinton is a prime example”.
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“He denigrates any individual or group that displeases him”, McQuaid wrote of Trump.
Trump, on the other hand, is “a liar, a bully, a buffoon”, who has “changed political views nearly as often as he has changed wives”.
Breaking with a century of tradition, the influential Union Leader of New Hampshire declined to endorse the Republican nominee for President late Tuesday, calling Donald Trump a “buffoon”.
“They would be worth considering under many circumstances”, McQuaid writes. In 100 of those years, it has never failed to endorse the Republican candidate for president. Rather, McQuaid suggests voting for Johnson and his running mate, former Massachusetts Gov. Bill Weld.
McQuaid penned a scathing editorial Wednesday, labeling the current election season “dark times” due to the presence of both Hillary Clinton and Trump in the race.
The Union Leader is the largest newspaper in New Hampshire with a daily circulation of 35,800, and 47,800 on Sundays.
Christie, meanwhile, knows full well the potential impact of a Union Leader endorsement. “You know it’s dying”, Mr. Trump said. It is the third newspaper endorsement that the Libertarian nominee has received and will help boost his standing in a state where he recently polled 15 percent.
When the Union Leader endorsed New Jersey governor Chris Christie for the Republican primaries in November, former New Hampshire GOP chairman Fergus Cullen told The Christian Science Monitor that people “aren’t going to vote for Christie because the Union Leader endorsed him”.
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In politically precarious swing states, endorsements could even backfire, if support from a newspaper perceived to have a certain leaning turns off on-the-fence voters.
