The New York Times editorial board is in the process of inviting all of the presidential candidates to the Times building to discuss their campaigns, including Republicans, a spokeswoman for the paper confirmed to the Washington Examiner media desk.
On Monday, Republican presidential candidate Rick Santorum, polling nationally below 1 percent, posted a photo on social media of himself leaving the Times building.
“Today I was the 1st GOP presidential candidate in nearly a decade to have a New York Times editorial board [meeting], & I survived!” Santorum Monday said on Twitter.
Related Story: http://www.washingtonexaminer.com/article/2574118/
Today I was the 1st GOP presidential candidate in nearly a decade to have a NY Times Editorial Board, & I survived! pic.twitter.com/1Teh13qqof
— Rick Santorum (@RickSantorum) October 19, 2015
Times spokeswoman Eileen Murphy said Tuesday that Santorum was invited to discuss his candidacy with the editorial board and that the paper intends to invite the other White House hopefuls as well. She said Santorum was invited first.
With Santorum struggling to gain any traction in his second bid for the nomination, his motivation to sit for an interview with the left-leaning Times editorial board comes with almost no downside. For the rest of the Republican field, however, it is unclear if they would benefit from such a meeting.
Andrew Rosenthal, editorial page editor for the Times, said in July that an endorsement from the paper in the GOP primary could actually have a negative effect on the candidate’s campaign.
“We pick a candidate but that may be the kiss of death for that candidate,” Rosenthal said of what a Times endorsement might mean for a Republican. “I’m not sure.”
He said an endorsement for a GOP candidate in the primary is more of a commentary on the race than a suggestion for voters on who to choose. “I don’t think a lot of hardcore Republican primary voters are sitting on the edge of their seat waiting to find out which candidate the New York Times dislikes the least,” he said.
