The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette on Sunday endorsed President Donald Trump for re-election, its first time endorsing a Republican since 1972.
Trump, the editors wrote, understood that China was “our enemy” and that he had changed the conversation from “free trade” to “fair trade.”
“He has put America first, just as he said he would,” they wrote.
The editorial endorsing the president praised his record on trade issues, China policy, jobs, the economy, and the energy industry.
They also praised him for keeping the country open despite the ongoing coronavirus pandemic.
“Has Mr. Trump handled the pandemic perfectly? No,” they wrote. “But no one masters a pandemic. And the president was and is right that we must not cower before the disease and we have to keep America open and working.”
The editors of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, however, sternly lectured Trump for his un-presidential behavior.
“We share the embarrassment of millions of Americans who are disturbed by the president’s unpresidential manners and character — his rudeness and put-downs and bragging and bending of the truth,” they wrote.
But they also raised the alarm of former Vice President Biden’s fitness for office.
“Mr. Biden is too old for the job, and fragile. There is a very real chance he will not make it through the term,” they wrote.