New Hampshire Union Leader Breaks More Than 100 Years Of Tradition By Backing Biden

The New Hampshire Union Leader formally rebuked President Donald Trump once again by backing Joe Biden, its first Democratic presidential candidate in more than a century.

The conservative-leaning publication issued its endorsement Sunday, praising Biden as a “caring, compassionate and professional public servant” in a lengthy editorial.

“Joe Biden may not be the president we want, but in 2020 he is the president we desperately need,” the Union Leader’s editorial board wrote. “He will be a president to bring people together and right the ship of state.”

The newspaper said it expects “to spend a significant portion of the next four years” disagreeing with Biden on matters of policy, including his stances on gun control and climate change. Noting that the former vice president was “among the most moderate” of those vying for the Democratic nomination in the 2020 primaries, however, they added, “We are hopeful that this is a sign of the thoughtful and pragmatic public servant President Joe Biden will be.”

In 2016, the Union Leader surprised readers and media professionals by endorsing Libertarian Gary Johnson over Trump, breaking a 100-year tradition of backing Republican presidential candidates.

Four years later, the paper’s distaste for Trump hasn’t budged.

“President Trump is not always 100 percent wrong, but he is 100 percent wrong for America,” the editorial board wrote Sunday. “Mr. Trump rightly points out that the COVID-19 crisis isn’t his fault, but a true leader must own any situation that happens on their watch. We may be turning a corner with this virus, but the corner we turned is down a dark alley of record infections and deaths.”

In 2015, Trump blasted the Union Leader’s publisher, Joseph McQuaid, as a “bad guy” and “real lowlife” after the paper endorsed former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie for president.

In an interview with CNNMoney that same year, McQuaid dismissed Trump’s criticisms as “a monologue tirade,” adding, “He says I’m a dishonest man. It’s he who is being dishonest and terribly confused.”

News of the Union Leader’s Biden endorsement came as Trump sought to shore up support for his reelection with a rally in Londonderry, New Hampshire. Recent polls, however, have found the president trailing Biden by as much as 12 percentage points in the Granite State.

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This article originally appeared on HuffPost and has been updated.