As the California primary date draws nearer, newspapers across the state are publishing their political endorsements for their favorite candidates, and the San Diego Union Tribune would rather people vote for a dead former president than Donald Trump.
A recent Tribune editorial encouraged San Diego voters to write in the name of Ronald Reagan, our 40th president, instead of voting for the presumptive Republican nominee Donald Trump.
The Tribune’s editorial board wrote that even though many Republicans support Trump , the real estate billionaire is in no way fit to lead the free world.
“We can’t endorse Trump for reasons we’ve documented repeatedly: belligerence, casual cruelty, incoherence on policy issues. We can’t recommend voters don’t vote at all because that’s a waste, and we can’t suggest voting for another candidate because it accomplishes nothing.”
The San Diego newspaper, which serves a conservative community in an otherwise blue state, went on to say the principles of Ronald Reagan’s Republican Party continue to be as important as ever.
“They always give up in California as a Republican because they say you can’t win.” Trump wants to change that. https://t.co/XjDrOr0FfM
— The Wall Street Journal (@WSJ) June 4, 2016
These include a stable border with our southern neighbor, a strong military, less bureaucracy, lower taxes, and a smaller government.
Those aren’t principles endorsed by Donald Trump , however, as the presumptive Republican candidate has vowed to build a border wall, wants to torture the families of terrorists, and has openly speculated about not paying debts of the American government.
“What would happen to Reagan’s party in the hands of Trump? What would happen to San Diego?”
The Tribune forgives Trump’s former Republican opponents who now support him saying conservatives have had a difficult time recently as the country has changed too quickly during a time of too little prosperity.
. @AKBrownLaw on #DonaldTrump : “The platform changes almost every time he gets interviewed – sometimes in the same interview.” #OReillyFactor
— Fox News (@FoxNews) June 4, 2016
The editorial board draws the line on Trump’s recent racist accusations against a federal judge overseeing two lawsuits against Trump University, however. Calling a sitting United States judge incompetent to preside over a trial because his Mexican heritage is a conflict of interest doesn’t sit well with the Tribune .
“We believe in a more unifying message. Neither problems nor opportunities improve with sloganeering or demagoguery.”
The newspaper concluded by saying Trump doesn’t deserve the Republican Party mandate and it encouraged San Diego voters to write in Ronald Reagan’s name during California’s June 7 primary.
“Maybe Trump will get the message.”
Trump is the presumptive Republican nominee, but his bold and brash political campaign has alienated Americans on the other side of the political divide including Democratic frontrunner Hillary Clinton who has questioned Donald’s sanity.
Trump is determined to make our military great again. He wasn’t during the Vietnam War https://t.co/po8lBH07cU
— Salon (@Salon) June 4, 2016
Clinton gave Trump a thrashing Thursday night during a foreign policy speech where she described Donald as a dangerously thin-skinned individual who could plunge America into war over a perceived slight, reports CNN .
“This isn’t reality television. This is actual reality.”
Describing Donald as unprepared and temperamentally unfit to hold office, Hillary said the brash-talking billionaire doesn’t belong anywhere near the nation’s nuclear codes.
Meanwhile, legal scholars across the nation questioned Trump’s commitment to the rule of law saying his attack on Federal District Court Judge Gonzalo P. Curiel, who is in charge of two class action lawsuits against the infamous Trump University , is out of line.
Michelle Obama denounces Donald Trump in commencement speech at CUNY https://t.co/KAHOCTunNJ pic.twitter.com/ClbXpjrae6
— The New York Times (@nytimes) June 4, 2016
The Trump campaign seemed intent on digging itself deeper into that hole as it threw unfriendly journalists out of Donald’s rally Thursday night. His campaign has made a habit of booting reporters who write unfavorable stories and Thursday night Politico ‘s Ben Schreckinger was the latest victim.
“I was removed from Donald Trump’s rally tonight for practicing journalism without the campaign’s permission.”
Who do you think Californians should vote for during the primary June 7, Donald Trump or Ronald Reagan?
Photo credit: David Becker / Paul Marnef /Hulton Archive/Getty Images