The Las Vegas Review Journal has published an editorial calling for Mr. Trump to admit defeat in the 46th Presidential election.
Adelson-owned Review-Journal Calls for Mr. Trump’s Admission of Defeat
President Donald Trump may need a reality check about what he considers to be the ongoing 46th Presidential election. Amid calls for electoral fraud and recounting the ballots, President Trump has refused to admit himself defeated, even though Joe Biden, the Democratic hopeful, already has over 300 Electoral College votes.
Instead, Mr. Trump may need to heed the call of his closest allies, including Sheldon Adelson, a respected casino mogul who invested $75 million in a super-PAC endorsing the President’s second term in office.
Yet, even Mr. Adelson seems to doubt his candidate’s chance of success after the Las Vegas Review-Journal, a publication owned by Mr. Adelson, published an editorial and stated that Mr. Trump had lost the election simply because he didn’t attract enough votes, failing to do so in several battleground states.
The Review Journal has been a source of quality and objective journalism, but it didn’t hesitate to endorse Mr. Trump in both his 2016 and 2020 campaigns. Now, the editorial seems like a direct response to rumors that Mr. Trump’s allies are looking for over $60 million to challenge the results of the election in court.
Amid intensifying strife within the world’s leading democracy, the media outlet noted that Mr. Trump had done a disservice to his supported by announcing that he had won the November 3 election, and then continuing to claim so despite sound evidence to the contrary.
Mr. Trump did try to play the fraud card, but there has been no evidence of such. What is worse, Mr. Trump had sounded the alarm himself, but failed to back his claim, while pandering to supporter who are susceptible to conspiracies.
Not Quite Adelson’s Position
Even though the publication is owned by the casino boss since 2015, the editorial is not necessary what Mr. Adelson himself thinks.
He has given the Review Journal, known for its impactful local and national journalism, free reign as to what content it should publish although, on occasion, he has appeared in the newspaper by giving a quick statement or insisting on specific publication, Forbes has reported, citing staff members.
Yet, nothing in Mr. Adelson’s demeanor suggests a personality that deliberately tries to undermine media freedom. If anything, Mr. Adelson vowed to pay to employees through the end of October 31, even though operations at his properties were completely halted, demonstrating a fair nature.
Despite his involvement in the Wire Act Opinion review, and the flak he has taken from supporters of online gaming, Adelson remains an inspiring figure in the brick-and-mortar gaming industry.
In July, Las Vegas Sands outlined recovery strategy seeking to return business back to normal, but in October, rumors surfaced that the company could be looking to offload key properties, including The Palazzo and The Venetian.
If anything, Mr. Adelson is a sound businessman and even if he may not be directly behind the words in the editorial page published earlier this week, the Las Vegas Review-Journal conclusion is well-argued. Mr. Trump has simply lost the election and the sooner he admits that, the better.