Donald Trump’s old favorite newspaper the New York Post named him and President Joe Biden the “worst men in America” in an editorial published on Friday, a day after the former president was indicted for mishandling classified documents.
“Used to believing that the rules don’t apply to him, he ignored the law and mocked the authorities. And guess what: They called him on it,” the paper’s editorial board wrote. “Trump admits to taking the classified documents, and obstructing the government’s efforts to get them back, claiming he had the ‘right’ to do so even when he didn’t.”
Trump is facing charges related to violations of U.S. national security laws and conspiracy to obstruct justice, special counsel Jack Smith, who was appointed by the Department of Justice (DOJ) to oversee the case, said on Friday during a press conference. Trump has now become the first former president in United States history to face federal charges, which stemmed from the hundreds of classified documents that were seized by the FBI from his Mar-a-Lago estate in Florida last August. Trump has denied any wrongdoing and said he declassified the documents before taking them. During that same month, the newspaper urged Republicans to move away from Trump shortly after the FBI raid.
The Post’s Friday editorial continued, “Why did he take them? To serve his own ego. To show starstruck Mar-a-Lago guests how important he used to be. It’s shamefully irresponsible, and so, so petty. He rails against the indictment, yet would have avoided one had he just given back the documents.”
Former President Donald Trump greets supporters on June 1 in Grimes, Iowa. Trump’s old favorite newspaper The New York Post named him and President Joe Biden the “worst men in America” in an editorial published Friday, a day after the former president was indicted for mishandling classified documents.
Photo by Scott Olson/Getty Images
Trump reacted to the news of his indictment in a series of Truth Social posts on Thursday night, accusing the Biden administration of being “corrupt” and calling it a “dark day” for America.
“He just couldn’t concede because everything in Trump’s life is about ‘winning’ or ‘losing,’ not what is right. His actions with these documents, and on January 6, show how unfit he is to be president again. Yet here we are,” the Post’s editorial board wrote.
The newspaper also targeted Biden saying that the president “let” his son, Hunter Biden, get involved in foreign business dealings with Ukrainian energy company Burisma and Chinese energy officials, who the Post said “were paying for access” and “favoritism.”
“No wonder they considered it bribery,” the editorial board wrote, referring to the GOP-led House Oversight Committee, which launched an investigation against the Biden family into an alleged bribery scheme. Republicans are alleging that Biden received bribes from a foreign national in return for an influence on policy decisions when he served as vice president during the Obama administration.
Both Biden and Trump are running for president in 2024, with the Post describing them as the “two unscrupulous men as the frontrunners for the highest office in the land.” The newspaper was referring to the waning influence of Biden among voters and the absence of a stronger Democratic candidate to run in a race where a “wide field of qualified” Republican candidates have a better winning chance among GOP voters.
“We hope they [Republican voters] don’t choose Trump, a moral vacuum with a track record of losing elections,” the newspaper wrote.
The editorial board concluded its op-ed by adding: “Our hope as we barrel through 2023: That neither candidate is the nominee. It’s time for fresh perspectives, younger faces, and a clean slate from casual corruption. Give Americans a candidate they actually want to vote for, and not just the least of the worst.”
The Post was once Trump’s favorite and one of his supporting media outlets, endorsing him for the 2020 presidential election. However, the Trump-leaning, Rupert Murdoch-owned newspaper, took a different direction when the former president refused to concede to Biden, his Democratic opponent, who won the election.
In March, the paper criticized Trump after he warned on social media about “death & destruction” if he was indicted in relation to the hush money payment investigation involving adult film star Stormy Daniels. Trump was indicted later that month by a grand jury for violating presidential campaign rules ahead of the 2016 presidential election. He was being investigated by the Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg’s office for a payment made to Daniels to keep her quiet about an affair she claims she had with Trump in 2006. The former president has denied the affair and maintained his innocence throughout the probe.
Newsweek reached out by email to Trump’s media office for comment.
Source : Newsweek