‘New Hampshire Union Leader’ Endorses Joe Biden After 100 Years Of Supporting Republicans

Despite President Donald Trump arriving in New Hampshire for a campaign rally on Sunday, the largest newspaper in the state, the conservative New Hampshire Union Leader, published the headline “Our choice is Joe Biden.”

The headline was followed by a letter from the editorial board of the Union Leader that stated why they no longer supported the Republican, as they broke down their opinions on each issue, and why Trump is not equipped to handle them. This is the first time in over 100 years that the Union Leader has not supported a Republican president.

The letter addressed several topics, but here are some of the highlights.

Regarding COVID-19, the paper said that “we may be turning a corner with the virus, but the corner we turned is down a dark alley of record infections and deaths.” The blame was pointed on the “ignorance” from Trump toward the virus.

On the national debt, the Union Leader wrote that “the national debt has exploded by more than 7 TRILLION dollars.” While they did credit some of the debt towards the unexpected expenses caused by the coronavirus, they wrote that the first $3 trillion was prior to the pandemic, despite Trump claiming that the country had “the best economy” in history.

The editorial also addressed the president’s controversial presence on Twitter, stating that “he has weaponized” the platform “at the expense of the nation.”

While the Union Leader is endorsing Biden, they reiterated that it was not due to a change in political opinion, and that they “expect to spend a significant portion of the next four years disagreeing with the Biden administration” in their newspaper.

“Joe Biden may not be the president we want, but in 2020 he is the president we desperately need. He will be a president to bring people together and right the ship of state,” wrote the editorial board.

This is not the first time that the Union Leader has opposed Trump. The newspaper’s publisher, Joe McQuaid, has spurred with the president since 2015. In late 2015, McQuaid wrote that Trump reminded the newspaper “of the grownup bully ‘Biff'” from the Back to the Future film franchise. 

Article by Mia Graham