'Critical' swing state newspaper urges Trump to leave the race 'to serve his country'

The Philadelphia Inquirer appears to have trolled the New York Times Saturday with the publication of an editorial encouraging Donald Trump to leave the presidential race for the good of the country.

Raw Story's editorial board published a piece encouraging President Joe Biden to leave the race after his disappointing CNN debate performance against Trump, and the New York Times later followed suit with its own call for Biden to drop out. The Times received extensive pushback for publishing that piece, when it didn't publish a similar one calling for Trump to drop out after he was convicted of felonies.

Now, the Inquirer, founded in 1829, has done just that.

The piece, called, "To serve his country, Donald Trump should leave the race," mirrors the language of the Times' Biden article.

"Biden had a horrible night Thursday. But the debate about the debate is misplaced. The only person who should withdraw from the race is Trump," the Inquirer argued on Saturday.

The piece notes that, "lost in the hand wringing was Donald Trump’s usual bombastic litany of lies, hyperbole, bigotry, ignorance, and fear mongering."

"His performance demonstrated once again that he is a danger to democracy and unfit for office," the article states. "Trump, 78, has been on the political stage for eight years marked by chaos, corruption, and incivility. Why go back to that?"

Democratic House aide Aaron Fritschner said the Inquirer is greater than the Times.

Federal criminal defense attorney Mark J. Reichel said, "Can we all now get an annual subscription to the Philadelphia Inquirer."

National opinion columnist for the Inquirer, Will Bunch, said, "I have to say that I am so proud right now of my newspaper, the Philadelphia Inquirer. Please read our just-published editorial."

Biden’s Wins said on social media, "In the critical swing state, Pennsylvania, the Philadelphia Inquirer has called for Donald Trump to drop out of the debate. Let’s go."

Read the piece here.