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 The mock-up, offering the Globe's satirical view of America under
a Trump presidency, was set to run as the front page of the
newspaper's "Ideas" section, followed on page 2 of that section by
the anti-Trump editorial.
The novel front-page spoof, says the editorial, is designed to take
Trump's rhetoric and his policy positions to their "logical
conclusion."
"It is an exercise in taking a man at his word," the editorial says.
"And his vision of America promises to be as appalling in real life
as it is in black and white on the page."
There was no immediate comment from Trump or his campaign.
The editorial brands the billionaire businessman as a "demagogue"
whose own political vision is "profoundly un-American."
 It casts his closest rival for the 2016 Republican nomination,
Senator Ted Cruz of Texas, as "equally extreme" and urges
Republicans, if possible at the party's nominating convention in
July, to draft a "plausible, honorable" alternative, suggesting U.S.
House Speaker Paul Ryan or former Massachusetts Governor Mitt
Romney.
The mock Trump page was conceived and executed by the Globe's
editorial writers, columnists and commentary editors, who make up
the newspaper's editorial board, said Ellen Clegg, the newspaper's
editorial page editor.
Noting that she reports to John Henry, the Globe's publisher, Clegg
stressed to Reuters in a telephone interview that the front-page
parody "does not involve our newsroom."
Clegg said she knew of no other such expression of political satire
ever published by the Globe or any other major metropolitan daily in
the United States during her 30 years at the newspaper. But it was
reminiscent of the kind of parody regularly featured by the farcical
online news outlet, The Onion.
The mock front page envisions a host of political, financial and
international scenarios ranging from disturbingly surreal to darkly
humorous, all playing on Trump's real pronouncements about illegal
immigration, Muslims, national security and the First Amendment.
[to top of second column] |
A color photograph of Trump making a speech is centered near the top
of the page under a banner headline reading: "Deportations to
begin," with a subhead reporting that Trump was calling for a
tripling of immigration enforcement personnel as "riots continue."
A top story on the page opens with the paragraph: "Worldwide stocks
plunged again Friday, completing the worst month on record as trade
wars with both China and Mexico seem imminent."
Other mock entries include a story about unrest in the ranks of the
U.S. military as soldiers refuse orders to kill family members of
Islamic State militants, and the headline: "New libel law targets
'absolute scum' in press."
In a more tongue-in-cheek vein, a brief item reports Trump on the
"short list" for the Nobel Peace Prize. "His feat? Healing a
1,385-year-old schism between Sunni and Shi'ite Muslims, which has
fueled bloody conflicts across the globe for centuries."
Clegg said it was not the first time the Globe, which tends to lean
Democratic on its opinion pages, has editorialized against Trump,
but it marked its most "resolute" opposition to his candidacy.
(Reporting by Steve Gorman from Los Angeles; Editing by Clarence
Fernandez)
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reserved.]
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