The Union Leader endorsement could make an impact in the hard-fought contest in New Hampshire: An NBC News/Wall Street Journal/Marist poll of likely voters from earlier this month showed Hillary Clinton leading Trump by only 2 points, with Johnson capturing 15 percent of the vote.
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McQuaid and Trump battled during the Republican primary, with Trump labeling the paper a failure for its coverage of his campaign and declining to attend a forum it hosted for the candidates. Trump “denigrates any individual or group that displeases him”, McQuaid writes.
McQuaid, the paper’s publisher, ignited a memorable feud with Trump in December, when he slammed the real estate mogul in a front-page editorial that included the comparison to the bullying Biff.
New Hampshire’s Manchester-based Union Leader newspaper has been around for a century-and-a-half, founded while the Civil War was still being fought.
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”.
“Their records (as Republican governors in politically-divided states) speak well of them”, McQuaid wrote.
Johnson is running on the Libertarian ticket with former Massachusetts Gov. Bill Weld.
“They would be worth considering under many circumstances”, McQuaid wrote of the Libertarian Party.
They refer to the candidates as the bright lights of hope and reason in this “dark time”.
But the media praise may be too little too late for Johnson to earn a place in the presidential debates with Clinton and Trump. It wasn’t close, either – Trump won 11 delegates in the state, while Mr. Christie won none.
Mr. Trump is scheduled to campaign in New Hampshire on Thursday.
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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.
