Day: February 21, 2024

A number of Republican and MAGA figures have reacted angrily after The Houston Chronicle, one of the biggest newspapers in Texas, endorsed President Joe Biden.

The Houston Chronicle‘s editorial board said they would be backing Biden in the Democratic primary and for re-election so he can “make life better” for the American people as well as prevent the “chaos, corruption and danger to the nation” that would accompany his presumed 2024 Republican challenger Donald Trump returning to the White House.

The Houston Chronicle‘s praise for Biden will be a boost for the Democrat as he seeks re-election in November. It remains to be seen how much of a difference the endorsement will make, seeing as Texas has not voted for a Democratic presidential candidate for nearly 50 years, with Trump beating Biden in 2020 by six points in the red state.

In their editorial, the paper’s board admit that Biden “has his shortcomings,” but what his administration has achieved during his time in office is a “potent reminder to his fellow Democrats, to independents and to those Republicans who have somehow resisted Trump’s cultish appeal that the nation has a viable alternative.”

President Joe Biden delivers remarks on the reported death of Alexei Navalny from the Roosevelt Room of the White House on February 16, 2024 in Washington, D.C. The Houston Chronicle, one of the largest newspapers…
President Joe Biden delivers remarks on the reported death of Alexei Navalny from the Roosevelt Room of the White House on February 16, 2024 in Washington, D.C. The Houston Chronicle, one of the largest newspapers in Texas, has endorsed Biden for re-election. Anna Moneymaker

The editorial notes how the U.S. economy is now “healthier” than any other advanced nation having recovered from the pandemic, unemployment is approaching a 50-year low and that inflation is falling.

The board cites other achievements from Biden’s presidency, such as seeking a “modest effort” to address gun safety, introducing a price cap on insulin, leading an allied response to Russian President Vladimir Putin‘s “brutish” invasion of Ukraine as well as seeking a “path to peace and stability in the post-October 7 conflagration involving Gaza, Iran and Israel and the desperate Palestinian people.”

“We are well aware that the Biden administration has not been successful on every front,” the board wrote.

“The calamitous withdrawal from Afghanistan was the most obvious failure. The administration’s inability to quell chaos at the border is another, although blame primarily belongs to caviling and cynical MAGA Republicans in the House.

“In servility to Trump, they torpedoed a bipartisan border-security plan painstakingly crafted in the Senate. Biden can’t solve the crisis by executive order; he needs Congress to act.”

In response, a number of Trump supporters lashed out at the paper for their endorsement of Biden on social media.

Steve Guest, a former spokesperson for Texas Senator Ted Cruz, posted on X, formerly Twitter: “Untethered from reality. REMINDER: the economy is a mess, our country is being invaded and the border is wide open, and the world is on fire from the Middle East to a ground war in Europe due to Joe Biden’s policies.”

Talk show host Joe Pagliarulo wrote: “O M G—I just LOVE this parody account for the Houston Chronicle. Kudos!!”

Comedian and political commentator Tim Young posted: “Fill the Houston Chronicle office with illegal immigrants. They endorse it, they can house it.”

Robert Bowlin, who frequently supports Trump on social media, added: “So, do you just not care about the fact that he can barely speak and he appears to be on the verge of tears in every press hearing?”

The Houston Chronicle board did note the concerns about the age and cognitive ability of Biden, who will be 82 by the start of his potential second term in office, and said that he may not be the “energetic, garrulous, occasionally even eloquent” public speaker of previous years.

However, the board suggested the president has “forgotten more than his presumed Republican rival will ever know. That’s not saying much, and at the same time, it says it all.”

Trump’s office has been contacted for comment via email.