Utah Sen. Orrin Hatch Orrin Grant HatchBottom line Bottom line Senate GOP divided over whether they'd fill Supreme Court vacancy MORE's spokesman fired back on Tuesday after Utah's largest newspaper published a blistering editorial calling on the senior GOP senator to retire.

Hatch spokesman Matt Whitlock released a statement accusing The Salt Lake Tribune of pursuing an "unquenchable thirst for clicks" in their scathing Christmas Day editorial published on Monday.

"Everyone celebrates Christmas differently. We all sincerely hope members of the Salt Lake Tribune editorial board find joy this holiday season in something beyond baselessly attacking the service and integrity of someone who [has] given 40 years for the people of Utah, and served as one of the most effective lawmakers of all time, just to satisfy their unquenchable thirst for clicks," Whitlock said.

ADVERTISEMENT

The paper's editorial named Hatch their "Utahn of the Year," a designation that the Tribune said went to someone who delivered "the biggest impact" for the state, "for good or for ill."

The newspaper in part went after Hatch's push for President Trump Donald John TrumpSteele Dossier sub-source was subject of FBI counterintelligence probe Pelosi slams Trump executive order on pre-existing conditions: It 'isn't worth the paper it's signed on' Trump 'no longer angry' at Romney because of Supreme Court stance MORE to shrink two national monuments in Utah, saying that the GOP senator earned the title of "Utahn of the Year" based on “his utter lack of integrity that rises from his unquenchable thirst for power.”

The Tribune's editorial board said that Hatch, the chairman of the Senate Finance Committee who ran for his seventh term in 2012, should "call it a career" after helping the GOP secure their tax overhaul signed into law last week. If he doesn't retire, the board stated, voters should end his career for him.

Hatch's Twitter account on Tuesday touted the front page of the editorial — showing him being declared "Utahn of the Year" — without acknowledging the biting elements of the piece. Hatch's office later said that the tweet, which expressed gratefulness for "this great Christmas honor," was meant as sarcasm.