Republican presidential frontrunner Donald Trump declined an opportunity to talk with the New York Daily News’ editorial board, the New York Times reported Monday.
Editor-in-chief Jim Rich confirmed the snub, which came after the tabloid criticized Trump on its front page multiple times, to the Times. The Daily News called Trump a “dead clown walking” after a second-place finish in the Iowa caucuses; lampooned New Hampshire voters when Trump won the primary there, dubbing it the “dawn of the brain dead;” and depicted Trump beheading the Statue of Liberty.
Trump has responded to the newspaper’s caricatures on Twitter, calling the New York Daily News “worthless.”
Democratic presidential candidate Sen. Bernie Sanders’ (I-VT) own interview with the Daily News editorial board was widely panned last week, as the Vermont senator seemed to struggle to explain some of his campaign talking points, including detailing how he would break up big banks.
The Times report noted that the Daily News’ rival, The New York Post, has taken a softer tone in covering Trump’s campaign. As the Daily News first reported, the New York Post’s editor-in-chief, Col Allan, once wore a hat with Trump’s slogan, “Make America Great Again,” in the newsroom.
Steven Rubenstein, a spokesman for the Post, confirmed to the Times that Allan briefly wore the cap.
“It was brought to the Post office by someone else, and he put it on for minutes,” Rubenstein told the Times.
The New York Republican primary is April 19.
