In an editorial, The New England Journal of Medicine called for replacing “dangerously incompetent” political leadership in the United States.

One of the world’s most prestigious medical journals, The New England Journal of Medicine, has never supported or condemned a political candidate before. In an editorial signed by 34 editors, the journal said the Trump administration had responded so poorly to the coronavirus pandemic that they “have taken a crisis and turned it into a tragedy.”

The political leadership has failed Americans in many ways that contrast vividly with responses from leaders in other countries, the journal said.

The journal did not explicitly endorse Joseph R. Biden Jr., the Democratic nominee, but that was the only possible inference, other scientists noted, reports the New York Times.

The journal joins another publication, Scientific American, who last month endorsed Mr. Biden, the former vice president.

Image: President Donald J. Trump, joined by Vice President Mike Pence and members of the White House Coronavirus Task Force, delivers remarks at a coronavirus update briefing Sunday, March 15, 2020, in the James S. Brady Press Briefing Room of the White House. (Official White House Photo by Andrea Hanks)