By John Dempsey, WLS-AM News
(CHICAGO) Libertarian Presidential candidate Gary Johnson got a major boost to his struggling campaign on Friday as he received the endorsement of the Chicago Tribune. The Tribune wrote that Republican Donald Trump is unfit to be President and has neither the character nor the prudent disposition for the job. The editorial said Democrat Hillary Clinton, while being capable of leading the United States, is proposing “orgies of spending, and taxing, that simply will … not … happen”, and that Clinton has an “up-to-the-present history of egregiously erasing the truth.”
The Tribune calls Johnson and running mate William Weld, “moderate Republicans” who are “agile, practical and, unlike the major-party candidates, experienced at managing governments.”
Johnson reacted to the news in an interview with John Howell and Ray Stevens on WLS, saying “Oh my gosh that’s really, that’s fantastic. It’s unbelievable.”
Listen to the full conversation on the Big John and Ray podcast page .
The Chicago Tribune endorsement did not mention Johnson’s much publicized recent brain freezes on MSNBC, first when he admitted never having heard of the Syrian city of Aleppo, and this past week when he could not name a single foreign leader he admires.
Johnson talked about those problems in the WLS interview, saying “You know we’re human in this process and that was my problem, two days later I’m still thinking of a world leader right now that I do look up to. That isn’t to say that there are a lot out there that don’t have wonderful qualities but who do you look up to, who do you admire?”
Johnson was shut out of the first Presidential debate this past Monday because he failed to score above 15 percent in five key national polls.
However Johnson told WLS he hopes the Tribune endorsement prompts other influential newspapers to follow suit, and increase his visibility.
“Currently there’s still 65, 70 percent of America doesn’t even know who we are, so yeah this goes a long way and certainly the Tribune is weighing in here as heavily as they possibly can so, oh my gosh thank you. Thank you for the Tribune’s leadership.”
Read the Chicago Tribune endorsement of Gary Johnson here:
@ 2016 WLS-AM News
