The Des Moines Register calls on Donald Trump to terminate his 'ill-conceived campaign'

The editorial board of The Des Moines Register has a message for Donald Trump: Drop out of the presidential race. Now.

In a scathing op-ed posted online Monday night, the paper says Trump appears "more focused on promoting himself, and his brand, then in addressing the problems facing the nation. If he were merely a self-absorbed, B-list celebrity, his unchecked ego could be tolerated as a source of mild amusement. But he now wants to become president, which means that he aspires to be the leader of the free world and the keeper of our nuclear launch codes."

The largest newspaper in Iowa went on to say that "if he had not already disqualified himself through his attempts to demonize immigrants as rapists and drug dealers, he certainly did so by questioning the war record of John McCain, the Republican senator from Arizona." During a GOP event over the weekend, Trump said that McCain was not a "war hero," comments that were "not merely offensive, they were disgraceful." Such behavior is threatening to "derail not just his campaign, but the manner in which we choose our nominees for president," the editorial board wrote, and Trump has "coarsened our political dialogue and cheapened the electoral process."

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As the paper sees it, the only way Trump can serve his country is "by apologizing to McCain and terminating his ill-conceived campaign." Already, he has "polluted the political waters to such an extend that serious candidates who actually have the credentials to serve as president can't get their message across to voters." Read the blistering op-ed in its entirety here.