NY Times Opinion Section Runs Splashy Anti-Trump Front Page — Amid Uproar Over Washington Post and LA Times Declining to Run Endorsements
Beata Zawrzel/NurPhoto via AP
The New York Times opinion took a bold stance against former President Donald Trump on Sunday morning as other major newspapers The Los Angeles Times and The Washington Post each played hot potato with the 2024 election last week.
Southern California’s most influential print publication announced it would not endorse a candidate in this year’s race – leading to some staff defections. The Post similarly punted on an endorsement.
Screenshots of Post subscribers canceling on the paper were plentiful on social media. Internal and external criticism also made the Post fodder for negative attention.
The Times‘ Sunday opinion page garnered its own reactions with a front page that boldly stated:
DONALD TRUMP
SAYS HE WILL
PROSECUTE HIS
ENEMIES
ORDER
MASS DEPORTATIONS
USE SOLDIERS
AGAINST CITIZENS
ABANDON ALLIES
PLAY POLITICS
WITH DISASTERS
BELIEVE HIM.
Times‘ editorial board member Brent Staples shared a photo of the Sunday edition on X, formerly Twitter, and commented, “The Sunday @nytopinion – for those who have forgotten how it’s done.”
Observers on the left praised the Times for its attention-grabbing front page:
The Times editorial board — which has endorsed the Democratic candidate in every presidential election since 1956 — endorsed Harris all the way back on Sept. 30, writing, “As a dedicated public servant who has demonstrated care, competence and an unwavering commitment to the Constitution, Kamala Harris stands alone in this race.” The board added:
It is hard to imagine a candidate more unworthy to serve as president of the United States than Donald Trump. He has proved himself morally unfit for an office that asks its occupant to put the good of the nation above self-interest. He has proved himself temperamentally unfit for a role that requires the very qualities — wisdom, honesty, empathy, courage, restraint, humility, discipline — that he most lacks.
Those disqualifying characteristics are compounded by everything else that limits his ability to fulfill the duties of the president: his many criminal charges, his advancing age, his fundamental lack of interest in policy and his increasingly bizarre cast of associates.
