Donald Trump’s campaign responded with sarcasm to a decision by the New York Times to endorse his presidential opponent, Hillary Clinton.
“The sun also rose in the east this morning,” said a press release sent Sunday to news media.
The release quoted Trump communications advisor Jason Miller, who not only blasted the New York Times for backing an “ultra-elitist, out-of-touch candidate” but slammed the newspaper itself as “the embodiment of the rigged system Donald Trump is running against.”
Miller said Trump cares more about the endorsement of regular voters than the Times’ editorial board “that only seems to care about the plaudits they receive at cocktail parties and dinners in the power corridors of this country.”
The Times’ editorial board announced Saturday it would back Clinton, in a lengthy editorial that praises her for spending more than 40 years in public service and proving herself a tenacious leader in the face of great odds.
“Our endorsement is rooted in respect for her intellect, experience, toughness and courage over a career of almost continuous public service, often as the first or only woman in the arena,” the editorial board wrote.
The editors also stressed that they were trying to convince voters hesitant to back Clinton to support the Democratic presidential nominee, not merely out of opposition to Trump but because she has the capacity to respond to the challenges the country faces.
The New York Times typically endorses the Democratic nominee for president, but Trump has struggled to gain the endorsements of even newspapers that usually back the Republican nominee. The Winston-Salem Journal and the Richmond Times-Dispatch said earlier this month they would back Libertarian Party candidate Gary Johnson over Trump.
