New York Post Shifts Tone on Trump as a Top Editor Plans His Own Exit

It went online shortly after The Post published an article on its website that took aim at Mr. Trump’s eldest son, who had called on the president “to go to total war over this election” in a tweet. “Panic-stricken Donald Trump Jr. calls for ‘total war’ in clueless tweet,” read the original headline. The story noted that the younger Mr. Trump “has a long history of using Twitter to fuel conspiracy theories.” (A later version of the headline removed “panic-stricken,” and the article did not make the Friday print edition.)

A spokeswoman for The Post declined to comment for this article.

The tenor of The Post’s recent Trump coverage matched the irreverent voice the paper typically applies to Hollywood celebrities and Democratic politicians. The two employees who spoke on the condition of anonymity described instances in the last two days when top editors encouraged staff members to use a rough-and-ready tabloid voice when writing about the president.

Before Election Day — as Mr. Allan worked closely with the editor in chief, Stephen Lynch, and the top digital editor, Michelle Gotthelf — The Post used its pun-crazed front page to promote the president and knock his rivals. The headlines included “HIDIN’ BIDEN” (for an article on Mr. Biden’s campaign strategy) and “SHE’S COUP-COUP” (on Speaker Nancy Pelosi).

Several staff members said Mr. Allan had more or less run the newsroom since his return. “I have contributed little other than some minor advice,” Mr. Allan said of his work on the paper’s election coverage.

Over the last year, Mr. Allan has also worked closely with the columnist Miranda Devine, a fellow Australian who joined The Post in time for the 2020 campaign. She has been an ardent supporter of President Trump and one of Mr. Biden’s fiercest detractors. She is the one who likened Mr. Trump to “an invincible hero” as he battled Covid-19 last month. And Ms. Devine described Mr. Biden’s candidacy as “an indictment of the entire Democratic establishment that has conspired to trick America into voting for someone incapable of being president.”

Mr. Allan said he would split his time between Sydney and New York. Asked if he had mounted his last stand, he replied, “Like Custer!”

In the campaign’s final stretch, he was a driving force behind The Post’s reporting on digital data that The Post said it had obtained from a laptop belonging to Hunter Biden. The paper’s first major article on the find was published on Oct. 14 amid the doubts of Post staff members. Its lead writer refused to accept a byline for his work on it.

Article source: https://www.nytimes.com/2020/11/06/business/media/new-york-post-trump.html