Trump Sees Lack of Newspaper Endorsements As Approval

The Washington Post, Los Angeles Times and USA Today may have declined to endorse a candidate in this year’s presidential election. But former President Donald Trump doesn’t see it that way.

Speaking at a rally in North Carolina, Trump claimed Wednesday that the papers’ non-endorsements are actually a stamp of approval for his campaign, according to CNN.

“The Washington Post and Los Angeles Times, and all these papers. They’re not endorsing anybody. You know what they’re really saying - because they only endorse Democrats - they’re saying this Democrat’s no good. They’re no good. And they think I’m doing a great job. They just don’t want to say it,” he said.

“Washington [Post] and USA Today, congratulations. I just heard USA Today has not endorsed. They said we’re not going to endorse. That means that they think she’s no good,” he added, referencing Vice President Kamala Harris.

Leadership at all three major newspapers have tried to push the notion that their non-endorsements were meant to build back readers’ trust and address perceptions that the news media is biased, stating they would prefer that their journalists inform readers to make their own voting decisions.

More than 250,000 Washington Post readers cancel subscriptions in revolt over non-endorsement

The Washington Post publisher Will Lewis wrote last week in his announcement that the paper would skip an endorsement that “this will be read in a range of ways, including as a tacit endorsement of one candidate, or as a condemnation of another, or as an abdication of responsibility. That is inevitable. We don’t see it that way.”

Instead, Lewis said he saw the non-endorsement, breaking with decades of tradition, as “consistent with the values The Post has always stood for and what we hope for in a leader: character and courage in service to the American ethic, veneration for the rule of law, and respect for human freedom in all its aspects.”