Las Vegas Review-Journal endorses Donald Trump
Donald Trump hasn’t gotten much love from editorial boards around the country, the majority of which have endorsed Democrat Hillary Clinton in the race for the White House.
But this weekend, he picked up one key battleground newspaper’s backing: the Las Vegas Review-Journal. The newspaper is owned by Las Vegas-based Republican megadonor Sheldon Adelson.
“Mr. Trump represents neither the danger his critics claim nor the magic elixir many of his supporters crave,” the paper’s editorial board wrote in an endorsement posted Saturday night. “But he promises to be a source of disruption and discomfort to the privileged, back-scratching political elites for whom the nation’s strength and solvency have become subservient to power’s pursuit and preservation.”
The editorial acknowledges neither candidate is perfect—neither Trump nor Clinton will ever win “an award for moral probity and character,” they write.
And they also point out Trump could and should learn to be more humble.
“Yes, Mr. Trump’s impulsiveness and overheated rhetoric alienate many voters,” the paper writes. “He has trouble dealing with critics and would be wise to discover the power of humility.”
But ultimately the paper said Trump’s failings are less acute than Clinton’s, saying a Clinton administration “would indulge the worst instincts of the authoritarian left.”
“She’ll cuddle up to the ways and perks of Washington like she would to a cozy old blanket,” the paper writes.
Though the editorial board writes that the country is in “turbulent times,” it argues that Trump can better embody the concerns of the electorate than Clinton can—and in fact, that Clinton’s campaign was almost “derailed” by those sentiments among American voters.
“The discontent isn’t confined by ideology or political philosophy,” the editoral reads. “As Donald Trump confounded the pundit class in ignoring convention and protocol on his way to securing the Republican presidential nomination, a long-time socialist generated throngs of enthusiastic supporters on the left and almost derailed the Democratic coronation of Hillary Clinton.”
The Review-Journal’s endorsement is one of Trump’s first major newspaper endorsements this fall. Many newspapers that have previously never endorsed a Democrat — including the Arizona Republic — have chosen to break tradition and back Clinton instead. Others, like USA Today and the Atlantic, usually don’t endorse a candidate but have also endorsed Clinton.