Whip List: Trump gets Las Vegas, but Clinton dominates newspaper endorsements

Two weeks before Election Day, more than half of the nation’s 100 largest newspapers have endorsed Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton — and just one has endorsed Republican nominee Donald Trump.

Trump broke his winless streak on Saturday, when the Las Vegas Review-Journal compared the Republican nominee to revolutionaries who have upset entrenched orders to bring needed change.

“Mr. Trump represents neither the danger his critics claim nor the magic elixir many of his supporters crave,” the Review-Journal wrote. “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 Review-Journal has the distinction of being the only major newspaper in America owned by a man who contributes millions of dollars to political causes every year. Casino magnate Sheldon Adelson, who has donated to super PACs backing Trump, purchased the paper last year.

Trump’s only other endorsements have come from the Santa Barbara News-Press and the St. Joseph (Missouri) News-Press. Neither paper is among the 100 largest in the nation by circulation.

Newspaper 2016 Endorsement 2012 2008
USA Today Not Trump Will not endorse Will not endorse
The Wall Street Journal      
The New York Times Clinton Obama Obama
Los Angeles Times Clinton Obama Obama
New York Post   Romney McCain
The Mercury News Clinton  Obama Obama
New York Daily News Clinton Romney Obama
The Chicago Tribune Johnson Obama Obama
Newsday Clinton Romney Obama
The Washington Post Clinton  Obama Obama
Chicago Sun-Times Clinton None Obama
The Dallas Morning News Clinton Romney McCain
The Denver Post Clinton  Obama Obama
Los Angeles Daily News   Romney Obama
Orange County Register      
Houston Chronicle Clinton Romney Obama
The Philadelphia Inquirer   Obama Obama
Star-Tribune (Minneapolis) Clinton Obama Obama
Tampa Bay Times Clinton Obama Obama
The Star-Ledger (Newark) Clinton  Obama Obama
Honolulu Star Advertiser Clinton  Obama Obama
The Boston Globe Clinton Obama Obama
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution No endorsement None Obama
The Arizona Republic Clinton Romney McCain
The Seattle Times Clinton Obama Obama
Las Vegas Review-Journal Trump  Romney McCain
The Oregonian No endorsement None Obama
The San Diego Union-Tribune Clinton Romney McCain
The Plain Dealer (Cleveland) Clinton  Obama Obama
San Francisco Chronicle Clinton Obama Obama
Pittsburgh Tribune-Review   Romney McCain
St. Paul Pioneer Press   None None
Detroit Free Press   Obama Obama
Milwaukee Journal Sentinel   None Obama
The Sacramento Bee Clinton  Obama Obama
The Tampa Tribune   Romney McCain
Fort Worth Star-Telegram   Romney Obama
The Kansas City Star Clinton Obama Obama
St. Louis Post-Dispatch Clinton  Obama Obama
The Salt Lake Tribune Clinton Obama Obama
Investor’s Business Daily   Romney McCain
The Baltimore Sun Clinton Obama Obama
Pittsburgh Post-Gazette   Obama Obama
Orlando Sentinel Clinton Romney Obama
Sun-Sentinel (South Florida) Clinton Romney Obama
The Record (Bergen County, N.J.) Clinton  Obama None
The Indianapolis Star   None Split
Arkansas Democrat-Gazette None of the above  Romney McCain
The Buffalo News   Obama Obama
The Columbus Dispatch Clinton  Romney McCain
Austin American-Statesman     Obama
San Antonio Express-News Clinton Obama McCain
Miami Herald Clinton Obama Obama
The Charlotte Observer Clinton Obama Obama
Omaha World-Herald Clinton Romney McCain
The Courier-Journal (Louisville) Clinton Obama Obama
The Virginian-Pilot      
Hartford Courant Clinton  Obama Obama
The Press-Enterprise (Riverside, Calif.)   Romney McCain
The Cincinnati Enquirer Clinton Romney McCain
The News & Observer (Raleigh) Clinton Obama Obama
The Oklahoman None of the above Romney McCain
The Detroit News Johnson Romney McCain
The Providence Journal Clinton Obama Obama
Deseret News (Utah) Not Trump     
The Advocate (Louisiana)      
Richmond Times-Dispatch Johnson Romney McCain
Democrat and Chronicle (Rochester) Clinton Obama Obama
The Fresno Bee Clinton  Obama Obama
The Blade (Toledo)   Obama Obama
Dayton Daily News     Obama
The Tennessean None of the above Romney Obama
Tulsa World None of the above Romney McCain
Arlington Heights Daily Herald Clinton  Romney Obama
Asbury Park Press Clinton  Obama Obama
The Des Moines Register Clinton Romney Obama
The Commercial Appeal (Memphis) Clinton    
Boston Herald   Romney McCain
The Palm Beach Post   None Obama
The Times of Northwest Indiana   Romney McCain
Albuquerque Journal   Romney McCain
Florida Times-Union   Romney None
Wisconsin State Journal Clinton Romney None
Arizona Daily Star Clinton  Obama Obama
The Post & Courier (Charleston)      
The News Journal (Wilmington)   Obama Obama
Akron Beacon Journal Clinton Obama Obama
LNP (Lancaster, Pa.)      
Worcester Telegram & Gazette   Romney Obama
Lexington Herald-Leader Clinton Obama Obama
El Paso Times Clinton Obama McCain
Knoxville News Sentinel     Obama
The Morning Call (Allentown)      
Rockford Register Star Clinton  Obama Obama
New Haven Register   Obama Obama
The News Tribune (Tacoma) Clinton  Obama Obama
Chattanooga Times Free Press None of the above    
The Times-Picayune (New Orleans) Clinton  None Obama
Daily Breeze (Torrance, Calif.)   Romney Obama
Long Beach Press-Telegram   Romney Obama

This weekend, five major papers urged readers to vote for Clinton, including two that endorsed former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney four years ago.

One of those papers, the Daily Herald of Arlington Heights, Ill., noted the disparity between Clinton and Trump, in the eyes of the nation’s editorial writers. The conservative paper based in the Chicago suburbs said it had expected to back the Republican candidate, assuming that candidate was someone such as former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush, Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.) or Ohio Gov. John Kasich.

“In endorsing Clinton, we’re not the only newspaper to repudiate Donald Trump. In fact, every major newspaper in the country has done so. The virtual universality of editorial board opposition to him is unprecedented, from perspectives across the nation of every ideological bent, from East Coast to West Coast and everywhere in between,” the paper’s editorial board wrote.

Libertarian presidential nominee Gary Johnson has won endorsements from three papers. USA Today, the Fort Worth Star-Telegram and the Deseret News of Utah, which has never before endorsed in a presidential race, have urged readers to vote against Trump.

“Should his mouth, so unfettered by reason or humility, be loosed on the world with the power of the Oval Office behind it, we could hardly blame friendly nations for withholding trust or unfriendly ones for raising their guard,” the Star-Telegram wrote of Trump this weekend.

The San Jose Mercury News, Newsday, the Rockford Register Star and the Tacoma News Tribune also backed Clinton this weekend.

The Nashville Tennessean, which backed President Obama in 2008 and Romney in 2012, became the latest paper to break precedent by declining to endorse a specific candidate. Instead, Tennessean columnists made cases for both candidates in separate columns.

The ratio of newspaper editorial boards that have endorsed Clinton over Trump is unprecedented in the history of modern presidential elections. Editorial endorsements are more lopsided than any year including 1972, when more than 90 percent of newspaper editorial boards backed Richard Nixon for re-election over Democratic nominee George McGovern.

Read more from The Hill:

Gary Johnson getting more paper endorsements than Trump

Updated Oct. 23 at 9:14 p.m.

Tags Donald Trump Gary Johnson Hillary Clinton Marco Rubio

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