Trump picks up first major newspaper endorsement of November election

Trump speaks at a rally before the third and final presidential debate in Las Vegas, Oct. 18, 2016. (George Frey/Getty Images)
Donald Trump at a rally before the final presidential debate in Las Vegas on Oct. 18. (Photo: George Frey/Getty Images)

Donald Trump picked up his first major newspaper endorsement of the November election over the weekend when the Las Vegas Review-Journal became one of the few to back the Republican nominee.

“These are turbulent times,” the newspaper, which is owned by Republican megadonor Sheldon Adelson, said in an editorial. “More and more Americans express frustration and disillusionment today with the political institutions that govern the nation. They clamor for an alternative to the incestuous and pernicious atmosphere dominating the capital. They see a vast array of lobbyists, elected officials and entrenched interests manipulating the levers of power for their own enrichment at the expense of ordinary citizens.”

While Hillary Clinton “[will] cuddle up to the ways and perks of Washington like she would to a cozy old blanket,” the Review-Journal argues, “Mr. Trump instead brings a corporate sensibility and a steadfast determination to an ossified Beltway culture.”

The Las Vegas Review-Journal
Photo: The Las Vegas Review-Journal

“He advocates for lower taxes and a simplified tax code, in contrast to his opponent’s plan to extract another $1 trillion from the private economy in order to enlarge the bureaucracy,” the Review-Journal writes. “Mr. Trump understands and appreciates the conditions that lead to prosperity and job creation and would be a friend to small business and entrepreneurship.”

The editorial mimics some of Trump’s own language on the stump, calling Clinton a “disaster” when it comes to appointing judges to the Supreme Court:

“The next president may be charged with filling multiple vacancies, shaping the court’s direction for a generation. Mr. Trump prefers nominees who recognize the Constitution’s checks on federal authority as a bulwark against tyranny. Mrs. Clinton would be a disaster in this regard.”

Don King talks with Sheldon Adelson and his wife Miriam before the start of the first U.S. presidential debate in Hempstead, N.Y., Sept. 26, 2016. (Lucas Jackson/Reuters)
Don King talks with Sheldon Adelson and his wife, Miriam, before the first presidential debate in Hempstead, N.Y., on Sept. 26. (Photo: Lucas Jackson/Reuters)

The Review-Journal is believed to be just the third daily circulation newspaper to endorse Trump for president.

Last week, the Santa Barbara News-Press and St. Joseph News-Press became the first two since the primary season to back the brash billionaire.

Meanwhile, Clinton has picked up endorsements from newspapers — including the Arizona Republic, Dallas Morning News, and Cincinnati Enquirer — that have traditionally gone Republican.

Related: Right-leaning newspapers bail on Trump

On Sunday, she picked up another: the Cedar Rapids Gazette, which hasn’t endorsed a Democrat for president since 1964.

“Do not throw up your hands and say the game is rigged,” the Gazette said while arguing against Trump. “Do not put your faith in a candidate who has proved in business and his personal life that he does not have a long-term strategy; that he cannot hold his temper; that he has utter disregard for the common good; that he lacks the basic understanding of governance, public service or what many of us would consider common decency.”

Unsurprisingly, Clinton also grabbed the endorsement of the New Yorker magazine on Sunday.

(The New Yorker)
The New Yorker

“On November 8th, barring some astonishment, the people of the United States will, after two hundred and forty years, send a woman to the White House,” the magazine said. “The election of Hillary Clinton is an event that we will welcome for its immense historical importance, and greet with indescribable relief. It will be especially gratifying to have a woman as commander-in-chief after such a sickeningly sexist and racist campaign, one that exposed so starkly how far our society has to go. The vileness of her opponent’s rhetoric and his record has been so widely aired that we can only hope she will be able to use her office and her impressive resolve to battle prejudice wherever it may be found.”

The accompanying cover illustration by Barry Blitt imagines the inaugurations of both Clinton and Trump.

“Both candidates seem to be in a loving relationship right now,” Blitt said. “But it is worth noting that, in the event of a Trump Presidency, Vladimir Putin would be the first foreign-born First Mate since Louisa Adams.”