The Cincinnati Enquirer has endorsed the Democratic presidential nominee for the first time in nearly a century, publishing an editorial on Friday titled “It Has To Be Hillary Clinton.”
Though the conservative-leaning newspaper criticizes Clinton’s record regarding “truth and transparency,” it describes Donald Trump as a “clear and present danger to our country.”
“Our reservations about Clinton pale in comparison to our fears about Trump,” the board writes.
“While Clinton has been relentlessly challenged about her honesty, Trump was the primary propagator of arguably the biggest lie of the past eight years: that Obama wasn’t born in the United States,” the board wrote.
“Trump has played fast and loose with the support of white supremacist groups,” they continued. “He has praised some of our country’s most dangerous enemies – see Vladimir Putin, Kim Jong Un and Saddam Hussein – while insulting a sitting president, our military generals, a Gold Star family and prisoners of war like Sen. John McCain. Of late, Trump has toned down his divisive rhetoric, sticking to carefully constructed scripts and teleprompters. But going two weeks without saying something misogynistic, racist or xenophobic is hardly a qualification for the most important job in the world. Why should anyone believe that a Trump presidency would look markedly different from his offensive, erratic, stance-shifting presidential campaign?”
The board also praised Clinton’s experience, leadership, inclusive campaign, and efforts on behalf of women’s and children’s rights during her 40 years in public service.
The Enquirer joins a group of Republican-leaning newspapers that have broken with decades of precedent of backing the GOP candidate. The Dallas Morning News’ Clinton endorsement earlier this month marked the first time since World War II that the newspaper had backed a Democrat, while the New Hampshire Union Leader declined to endorse the Republican nominee for the first time in over a century. Deeming both major party candidates “horrible,” the paper instead endorsed Libertarian candidate Gary Johnson.
