According to a recent research, 47 major US newspapers support Biden, 7 are behind President Trump.
According to research by The American Presidency Project, 47 major U.S. newspapers have thrown their support behind Joe Biden and they have a total circulation of 9.58 million, among them are the USA Today, The New York Times and The Chicago Tribune. President Trump has the support of just seven outlets and they have a total circulation of just under 863,000. The New York Post and Boston Herald are supporting Trump’s bid for another four years in the White House.
For years, the influence of newspaper endorsements on voting behavior in presidential elections has been clear. According to Press Gazette, in October 1980, after publishing arguably one of the most significant endorsements for the Ronald Reagan campaign that read: “For us, as for millions of voters, it is a close call and a difficult one, but with many misgivings, and more hope than certitude, we recommend the election of Ronald Reagan”, the table was set for the future. Since then, especially through the 1980s, 1990s and early 2000s, support for Democratic and Republican candidates ahead of elections was divided almost equally between the nation’s largest newspapers. When it comes to presidential elections, the editorial boards of America’s newspapers have been left-wing of the voting public since 1992 when Bill Clinton was presidential nominee for the Democrat. However, the popularity of Barack Obama in 2008 shook up the dynamic, with just three top-20 newspapers backing his Republican rival, John McCain. That year, the Chicago Tribune endorsed a Democrat for the first time in its 161-year history, while the Houston Chronicle also broke with its right-leaning tradition.
In 2012, Obama lost the support of several newspapers that had previously backed him – including the Houston Chronicle, New York Daily News and Newsday – to Mitt Romney. However, the emergence of Donald Trump as the Republicans’ 2016 candidate made history by dissolving all support for the party among the nation’s largest newspapers.
From 1980 to 2016, the votes between Republicans and Democrats have been split roughly down the middle, with neither party claiming more than 60% of their combined vote. Ahead are the graphics.
