New Hampshire Union Leader publisher Joseph W. McQaid explained his newspaper's
endorsement of New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie on Sunday, saying Christie was the only qualified candidate "who can who can take the fight to Trump, Hillary, ISIS."
In the front-page endorsement on Sunday, McQaid wrote that the next president shouldn't be a freshman senator as President Barack Obama was when elected. That effectively disqualifies Texas Sen. Ted Cruz, Florida Sen. Marco Rubio and Kentucky Sen. Rand Paul.
The editorial also said no one from the private sector with no public experience need apply. That knocks out front-runner Donald Trump as well as Ben Carson and Carly Fiorina.
"I think we were really looking just at the governors," McQaid said Sunday on
"Meet the Press." "I think after the experience of the past eight years, freshman senators without a lot of experience are not good."
Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker and former Texas Gov. Rick Perry both bowed out early, so failed to get a chance at the powerful conservative paper's endorsement.
"I'm not sure why Gov. Perry didn't get any traction, but it was left with [Ohio Gov. John] Kasich, [former Florida Gov. Jeb] Bush and Christie," McQaid said. Christie, he said can take on Trump, expected Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton and the Islamic State terrorists.
Jeb Bush had a better record in Florida than Christie has in New Jersey, but Bush doesn't seem like he wants the job, McQaid said, while Christie has held steady in a blue state and is also a former federal prosecutor who has gone after terrorists in court.
The Union Leader has been staunchly conservative since it was bought by William Loeb III in 1948, who along with his wife Elizabeth Scripps "Nackey" Loeb, were in charge of endorsements. The Union Leader backed Ronald Reagan in 1976 and 1980, Pierre Du Pond in 1988, Pat Buchanan in 1992 and 1996, Steve Forbes in 2000, John McCain in 2008, and Newt Gingrich in 2012.
"Meet the Press" moderator Chuck Todd told McQaid that if the Loebs were still alive, they likely would have endorsed Cruz.
"Well, Nackey would still be going for Buchanan," McQaid laughed.
The Union Leader also is known for allegedly making Democratic candidate Edmund Muskie cry as he stood outside the paper's offices in 1972 and defended his wife against the attacks from the publication.
Muskie later said that while he was passionate, it was tears running down his eyes, but melting flakes from a snowstorm.
Related Stories:
© 2025 Newsmax. All rights reserved.