Donald Trump heads into next week’s California primary as the presumptive Republican presidential nominee. He probably doesn’t need the endorsement of one of the state’s largest newspapers – but losing this particular one is noteworthy.
In an editorial published online Thursday, the San Diego Union-Tribune called Trump “unfit to lead the free world.”
The reasons? His “belligerence, casual cruelty, incoherence on policy issues.”
With no real challenger for Trump next Tuesday, the U-T’s editorial board wants its Republican readers to still vote – not doing so would be “a waste.” They need to send Trump a message, the board wrote:
Write in Ronald Reagan.
The board argues that the principles of the two-term president who died in 2004 are “as relevant as ever: a stable border, a strong military and economic policy focused on low taxes, less bureaucracy and limited regulation.”
“Those are not the principles of Trump, who promises to build a border wall, recommends torture and killing terrorists’ families and speculates about reneging on our debts,” the board wrote.
Where Reagan was “the Great Communicator,” Trump “is the Great Excommunicator,” the board wrote.
“He wants Muslims banned from the country; a wall built around our southern border; global deals ripped up and renegotiated; America made “great again” through isolationism.”
Perhaps by writing in Reagan’s name, the board wrote, voters will send a message to Trump.