USA Today endorsed Joe Biden in an unprecedented move on Tuesday.
The editorial board for the newspaper announced their decision to formally back the former vice president, picking a presidential candidate for the first time in the news outlet’s 38-year existence because “this year, character, competence and credibility are on the ballot.”
Though the editorial board wrote they disagree with President Trump on issues ranging from his coronavirus response to “health care and climate change to immigration and trade,” these policy differences are not the reason for making a first-time presidential endorsement.
“If this were a choice between two capable major party nominees who happened to have opposing ideas, we wouldn’t choose sides. Different voters have different concerns. But this is not a normal election, and these are not normal times,” the editorial board wrote. “For nearly four decades, the Editorial Board has stood for certain core values: truth, accountability, civility in public discourse, opposition to racism, common-ground solutions to the nation’s problems, and steadfast support for First Amendment rights. These aren’t partisan issues, or at least they shouldn’t be.”
Although USA Today has not endorsed a presidential candidate before, its editorial board did urge U.S. citizens not to vote for Donald Trump four years ago. At that time, they argued that the Republican lacked the “temperament, knowledge, steadiness and honesty that America needs from its presidents.” But they didn’t go as far as to support Hillary Clinton.
“We may never endorse a presidential nominee again. In fact, we hope we’ll never have to,” the editorial board wrote in conclusion on Tuesday.
