Johnson said the endorsement was a “huge boost” to his long-shot campaign.
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In an editorial published Wednesday, the publisher called Donald Trump “a liar, a bully and a buffoon”.
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Americans do not have to choose between the lesser of two evils, the editorial said. “Allow us to make our case to the American people”, write Johnson and his running mate, former MA governor Bill Weld.
But in withholding the paper’s endorsement of Trump, McQuaid, who has sparred a couple of times with the Republican nominee on Twitter, is attempting to get in a final word with his NY nemesis. “He denigrates any individual or group that displeases him”. It goes on to call Trump a “liar, a bully, [and] a buffoon”, who has “dishonored military veterans and their families, made fun of the physically frail, and changed political views nearly as often as he has changed wives”. The Union Leader had endorsed New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie, then a rival of Mr. Trump’s, and Mr. McQuaid had written an editorial comparing Mr. Trump to Biff Tannen, the loudmouthed bully character from the “Back to the Future” movies. “Their records (as Republican governors in politically divided states) speak well of them”, he wrote.
“They would be worth considering under many circumstances”.
While Johnson is severely behind Trump and Clinton, the endorsement could aide him in New Hampshire, where the two frontrunners are in a dead heat.
They refer to the candidates as the bright lights of hope and reason in this “dark time”.
While newspaper endorsements don’t sway current voters as much as they did in previous generations, the conservative publication’s decision to reject Trump is still considered a significant move. Clinton came in with 39 percent and Trump 37 percent.
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Mr. Trump is scheduled to campaign in New Hampshire on Thursday. The Dallas Morning News and Houston Chronicle are backing Hillary Clinton; the Winston-Salem (North Carolina) Journal and the Richmond (Virginia) Times-Dispatch have recommended Johnson.
