WSJ’s Baker reminds editors to be fair to Trump

Wall Street Journal editor Gerard Baker reminded editors at the newspaper to be fair to Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump in a recent meeting, writes Joe Pompeo of Politico.

Pompeo writes, “During one of The Wall Street Journal’s recent morning news meetings, editor in chief Gerry Baker took a couple minutes to remind editors to be “fair” to Trump, according to a source with direct knowledge of the remarks, because, Baker said, no matter what people think of him, Trump’s a serious candidate and lots of serious people are going to get behind his White House bid.

“The source described Baker’s Trump talk as a ‘surreal tangent’ in a meeting normally reserved for ironing out the logistics of covering the day’s top stories. The source also said the comments were widely discussed among Journal editors and bureau chiefs, some of whom took them as an insult or admonition. A Journal spokeswoman declined to comment.

“To be fair, Trump is no ordinary candidate, and the press has reveled in the circus-like atmosphere of his campaign. So it’s not unreasonable for the editor of a national newspaper to want to make sure his journalists give Trump a fair shake now that he is one of two candidates in the running to become our next president.