In an unsurprising move, the often liberal Los Angeles Times editorial board has endorsed Hillary Clinton.
In a lengthy editorial published early Friday, the board calls the Democratic nominee “an experienced, thoughtful and deeply knowledgeable public servant,” and then lambasts Trump as a “thin-skinned demagogue who is unqualified and unsuited to be president.”
Before getting into Clinton’s qualifications, the paper trashes Trump as being just a “television personality” who has “never held elected office and has shown himself temperamentally unfit to do so.”
“He has run a divisive, belligerent, dishonest campaign, repeatedly aligning himself with racists, strongmen and thugs while maligning or dismissing large segments of the American public. Electing Trump could be catastrophic for the nation,” the board wrote.
The board then details Clinton’s strengths — supporting abortion rights, raising the federal minimum wage, pushing for criminal justice reform and fighting terrorism abroad, among others — while continuing to attack Trump’s political experiences and stances.
Clinton does however have “serious shortcomings,” the board admits, including a “penchant for secrecy” and a habit of “adjusting her positions to match popular opinion and for being a little too comfortable with the use of military force.” The board also dings her, and her husband former president Bill Clinton, for spending “years among the rich and powerful.”
But ultimately, she remains the better choice than Trump.
“To be a great president, she will have to struggle to overcome her own weaknesses. But compared with Trump’s infirmities as a candidate, her failings are insignificant. It’s absurd — and perilous — to portray this election, as so many are doing, as a choice of the ‘lesser of two evils’ or to suggest that her flaws are in any way on a level with his,” the board concludes.
The LA Times had already endorsed Clinton ahead of this year’s California primary. In 2008 and 2012, it endorsed Barack Obama.
