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.”
Ted Cruz v Donald Trump Timeline: Their Insults About Wives and Rat Sex (Photos)
This week began with nude pictures of Donald Trump's wife, Melania Trump, and ended with Ted Cruz calling Trump a rat and just barely avoiding the word "ratfucking." Let's review.
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It all started with an anti-Trump Facebook ad targeted at Mormons from the super PAC America Awesome, which featured a photo of Melania Trump posing naked for GQ.
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Taking offense to the perceived slight, Trump threatened to "spill the beans" on Cruz's wife Heidi. "Be careful, Lyin' Ted," he warned on Twitter.
"Pic of your wife not from us. Donald, if you try to attack Heidi, you're more of a coward than I thought. #classless," responded Cruz.
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On Wednesday, a story accusing Cruz of having affairs with five women appeared in The National Enquirer. Cruz denied the story, calling it "complete and utter lies" and "a smear that has come from Donald Trump and his henchmen."
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While accusing Trump of planting the story, Cruz tried to talk around the word "ratfucking," derogatory slang for an especially dirty kind of political sabotage.
“He’s a man for whom a term was coined for copulating with a rodent,” Cruz said of a former Trump ally. “Well let me be clear, Mr. Trump may be a rat but I have no desire to copulate with him. And this garbage does not belong in politics.”
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On Friday, Trump issued a statement on Facebook, denying the accusation that he planted the Enquirer story.
"While [The National Enquirer was] right about O.J. Simpson, John Edwards, and many others, I certainly hope they are not right about Lyin’ Ted Cruz," he wrote.
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This week in disgusting presidential politics
This week began with nude pictures of Donald Trump's wife, Melania Trump, and ended with Ted Cruz calling Trump a rat and just barely avoiding the word "ratfucking." Let's review.