WSJ editorial board argues publishing letter from Trump 'hardly did him a special favor'

published 28 October 2021

Following backlash from both the public and the paper's own reporters, The Wall Street Journal editorial board has responded to the controversy around its decision to publish a falsehood-ridden letter to the editor penned by none other than former President Donald Trump.

Trump's Wednesday missive was actually in response to another Journal editorial — one about Pennsylvania's state Supreme Court that (factually) declared President Biden won the state of Pennsylvania in 2020 by 80,555 votes. "Well, actually, the election was rigged, which you, unfortunately, still haven't figured out," Trump wrote in response to the Journal, among other falsehoods.

On Thursday, however, the Journal's editorial board did not stand down from its decision to publish the letter. "We trust our readers to make up their own minds," the board wrote, explaining "we think it's news when an ex-president who may run in 2024 wrote what he did."

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After debunking some of Trump's many unsubstantiated claims, the board argued that it "hardly did him a special favor by letting him respond to our editorial" considering he is "making these claims elsewhere."

"We offer the same courtesy to others we criticize, even when they make allegations we think are false."

"As for the media clerics," the group added, "their attempts to censor Mr. Trump have done nothing to diminish his popularity."

Already, however, some have poked holes in what they're calling a "weak" response.

But other's commended the pointed rebuttal, "especially given the outlet."

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Brigid Kennedy worked at The Week from 2021 to 2023 as a staff writer, junior editor and then story editor, with an interest in U.S. politics, the economy and the music industry.