The New York Observer delivered a glowing endorsement of Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump, but the paper lost its top reporter in the process.
Ross Barkan, the paper’s national political reporter, announced Wednesday that he is stepping down over concerns with the Observer’s coverage of the GOP frontrunner.
“I knew going into this there would be complications with covering Donald Trump and working for the New York Observer,” Barkan told CNN. “I did not imagine that the events would transpire the way they did.”
The Observer is owned by Trump’s son-in-law, Jared Kushner, creating an obvious conflict of interest, one that Barkan could no longer countenance.
Barkan also told CNN that Kushner’s recent involvement in writing a speech that Trump delivered last month before the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC) factored into his decision.
Barkan’s last day at the Observer is Apr. 27.
The paper addressed the connection between Trump and Kushner in the endorsement: Donald Trump is the father-in-law of the Observer’s publisher. That is not a reason to endorse him. Giving millions of disillusioned Americans a renewed sense of purpose and opportunity is.
The uncommonly positive endorsement praises Trump for a campaign that is all about “optimism,” a “compelling narrative,” “faith and leadership.”