The newspaper in Orlando where Trump is kicking off his 2020 campaign made its 2020 endorsement: 'Not Donald Trump'
- The Orlando Sentinel, the leading newspaper in the Florida city where President Donald Trump is set to launch his 2020 reelection campaign, on Tuesday made it very clear it will not be endorsing Trump.
- The Sentinel said it's "seen enough" from Trump over his tenure so far and there's "no point pretending we would ever recommend that readers vote for Trump."
- Since the 1950s, the Florida newspaper has overwhelmingly endorsed Republican presidential nominees with few exceptions.
- Trump's campaign kick-off event is set to be held in Orlando on Tuesday night.
Ahead of President Donald Trump's 2020 campaign kick-off event in Orlando, Florida, on Tuesday night, the city's primary newspaper made it clear the commander-in-chief will not be getting its endorsement as he vies for a second term.
"Donald Trump is in Orlando to announce the kickoff of his re-election campaign. We're here to announce our endorsement for president in 2020, or, at least, who we're not endorsing: Donald Trump," the editorial board of the Orlando Sentinel wrote in a scathing editorial.
The Sentinel said it's "seen enough" from the president over the past 2.5 years and there's "no point pretending we would ever recommend that readers vote for Trump."
The Orlando newspaper slammed Trump for what it characterized as his "assault on truth" and "war on decency."
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"The nation must endure another 1½ years of Trump. But it needn't suffer another four beyond that," the op-ed went on to say. "We can do better. We have to do better."
In making its case against Trump, the Sentinel noted it's endorsed Republican presidential candidates in the past such as Mitt Romney, now a US Senator for Utah, against former President Barack Obama in 2012.
"This non-endorsement isn't defaulting to whomever the Democrats choose. This newspaper has a history of presidential appointments favoring Republicans starting in the mid-20th century. Except for Lyndon Johnson in 1964, the Sentinel backed Republican presidential nominees from 1952 through 2004, when we recommended John Kerry over another four years of George W. Bush," the paper said.
The Trump campaign did not immediately respond to a request for comment from INSIDER.
Trump heads into the 2020 campaign season with a low approval rating, escalating tensions with Iran, and a surge in migrants at the border that continues to divide Congress, among other issues.