The Trump Era has been awash in caustic op-eds from newspaper editorial boards, warning that this president is both a unique threat to our democracy and singularly incompetent. Clearly, these pieces only go so far. Part of that is that The New York Times editorial board essentially does not exist to Trump's base of support. Even if Trump fans saw the Times fretting about the president's assault on democratic norms, or his alarming behavior towards a nuclear-capable North Korea, or his shocking displays of disrespect for minority communities and women, his supporters would simply denigrate it as more Very Fake News from The Liberal Media.

But Tuesday night, one editorial board weighed in—big time—with a screed that might actually reach Trump's fans. The piece appeared in USA Today, the Gannet paper with a national circulation that rivals the Times and The Wall Street Journal, but with less of the Coastal Elitist baggage. Here's what the paper had to say about the president's attack on Senator Kirsten Gillibrand, which many observers—but not Sarah Huckabee Sanders—saw as blatant misogyny:

And as is the case with all of Trump's digital provocations, the president's words were deliberate. He pours the gasoline of sexist language and lights the match gleefully knowing how it will burst into flame in a country reeling from the #MeToo moment.
A president who would all but call Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand a whore is not fit to clean the toilets in the Barack Obama Presidential Library or to shine the shoes of George W. Bush.
This isn’t about the policy differences we have with all presidents or our disappointment in some of their decisions. Obama and Bush both failed in many ways. They broke promises and told untruths, but the basic decency of each man was never in doubt.
Donald Trump, the man, on the other hand, is uniquely awful. His sickening behavior is corrosive to the enterprise of a shared governance based on common values and the consent of the governed.

USA Today isn't known for running news-making editorials. And it isn't run out of Manhattan. It's headquarters is in McLean, Virginia. This is a sign of where we're at, and it's a sign that Americans everywhere (not just the coasts) need to open their eyes to the dangers of the Trump presidency.

Headshot of Jack Holmes
Jack Holmes
Senior Staff Writer

Jack Holmes is a senior staff writer at Esquire, where he covers politics and sports. He also hosts Unapocalypse, a show about solutions to the climate crisis.