The Des Moines Register said Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump had denied press credentials to its reporters, after the Iowa newspaper published an editorial calling on the billionaire businessman to end his campaign.
The Register said its reporters were denied credentials to a Trump campaign event in Oskaloosa, Iowa, on Saturday. The newspaper said Trump campaign manager Corey Lewandowski told its reporters they were being excluded because of the editorial.
In the editorial, which was published on Tuesday, the newspaper called Trump a “feckless blowhard” who was “unfit to hold office”.
Trump has antagonised a number of groups since launching his campaign for the Republican nomination in June. Remarks about Mexico and immigrants to the US caused international upset; the suggestion last week that the 2008 GOP presidential candidate, John McCain, was “not a war hero” led to widespread and swift condemnation among the Republican field.
McCain was held in a North Vietnamese prison for five and a half years, and tortured, after his plane was shot down during a bombing mission.
Despite the uproar over his dismissal of McCain, Trump has not backpedalled – and has maintained his leading position in polls of the 16-strong Republican presidential field. Most experts predict that he will not last the entire primary campaign, let alone win the nomination, but he remains on course to participate in the first debate, in Cleveland on 6 August. The top 10 candidates will make the stage for the debate, which will be hosted by Fox News.
Register editor Amalie Nash emphasised on Friday that the paper’s editorial board was independent of its news reporters and editors. Nash urged the Trump campaign to “revisit its decision instead of making punitive decisions because we wrote something critical of him”.
