The New York Post Friday endorsed native son Donald Trump for the GOP presidential nomination, but it didn't endorse most of his policies or statements, saying he is an "imperfect messenger carrying a vital message."
"He has the potential — the skills, the know-how, the values — to live up to his campaign slogan: to make America great again," The Post's editors wrote, praising Trump as a "plain-talking entrepreneur with outer-borough, common-sense sensibilities."
They also lauded Trump for his prowess as a businessman who has "created jobs for thousands" and shown how a "can-do approach can rip through government red tape and get things done."
Further, they said Trump is "right" for slamming the nation's election system as being rigged, and noted that he "offers hope" to those fed up with the rule of lobbyists and insider politics, and with the a government that ignores their needs.
However, the endorsement did not praise what it called Trump's "rookie mistakes," including policies that "seem made on the fly."
It is not a good idea to pull troops out of Japan and South Korea while encouraging the countries to defend themselves with nuclear weapons, said the editorial board, and the idea of building a large wall to control the nation's border is "far too simplistic a policy for a nation of immigrants."
Also, the paper says that getting the best trade deals are good for America, but also trade means less expensive goods while challenging U.S. industries to grow.
"Trump's language, too, has too often been amateurish, divisive — and downright coarse," the paper says, but points out that Trump has never been a professional politician.
But that lack of political correctness is "one of his great attractions," the Post says, and praised him as reflecting the "best of New York values."
Sandy Fitzgerald ✉
Sandy Fitzgerald has more than three decades in journalism and serves as a general assignment writer for Newsmax covering news, media, and politics.
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