Two days after The Arizona Republic endorsed a Democrat for the first time in a century, The Chicago Tribune is also getting in on the action. On Friday, the paper, which usually endorses Republicans but endorsed Barack Obama in 2008 and 2012, endorsed Johnson of the Libertarian Party as a “principled” option for president.
“We would rather recommend a principled candidate for president—regardless of his or her prospects for victory—than suggest that voters cast ballots for such disappointing major-party candidates,” writes the Tribune’s editorial board. This presents Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton as equally flawed candidates, and that is not true.
“We offer this endorsement to encourage voters who want to feel comfortable with their choice,” the endorsement continues. “Who want to vote for someone they can admire.” That all sounds great, except Gary Johnson is not that person. Gary Johnson is a spandex-wearing oaf who can’t name a foreign leader and doesn’t know where Aleppo is on the map. He is not fit to be president either. Furthermore, principles don’t really matter when voting for Johnson increases the chances of victory for Trump, who stands in opposition to those principles.
If you’re a Republican-leaning newspaper that cannot bring itself to endorse Trump, then do the responsible thing and endorse Clinton.