The Huffington Post announced today that it will not cover Donald Trump as a politician in its reporting on the 2016 presidential race. Instead, they will consider the outspoken billionaire and former Celebrity Apprentice host an entertainer.
In a note posted on Friday, editorial director Danny Shea and Washington bureau chief Ryan Grim explained their decision in blunt terms. They wrote that the campaign is a “sideshow” and they won’t “take the bait.”
“Our reason is simple: Trump's campaign is a sideshow,” Shea and Grim wrote. “We won't take the bait. If you are interested in what The Donald has to say, you'll find it next to our stories on the Kardashians and The Bachelorette.”
The decision comes just after the left-leaning website published an interview with Trump from New Hampshire in its Entertainment section.
The site seemed happy with its decision, posting “You’re fired... from our political reporting” on its front page with a picture of Trump.
Trump is one of 15 candidates running for the Republican presidential nomination. Thanks to the publicity his campaign has garnered through his brash comments, Trump has made significant gains in recent polling. A USA Today/Suffolk University Poll had Trump leading the pack with 17 percent of those polled supporting him.
Earlier this week, Trump claimed he has a net worth of over $10 billion and that he was paid $213.6 million for 14 seasons of The Apprentice.
image courtesy of Kamil Krzaczynski/INFphoto.com