For the first time in nearly 40 years, the Washington Post will not endorse candidate in their bid to become the next President of the United States.
“The Washington Post will not be making an endorsement of a presidential candidate in this election. Nor in any future presidential election. We are returning to our roots of not endorsing presidential candidates,” Washington Post Chief Executive Officer Will Lewis wrote on Friday, October 25.
Further reporting from the Washington Post suggests the newspaper’s editorial staff was prepared to endorse Vice President Kamala Harris. However, the newspaper’s owner, Jeff Bezos, reportedly called off the endorsement.
“An endorsement of Harris had been drafted by Post editorial page staffers but had yet to be published, according to two people who were briefed on the sequence of events and who spoke on the condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak publicly,” Manuel Roig-Franzia and Laura Wagner of the Washington Post wrote.
“The decision to no longer publish presidential endorsements was made by The Post’s owner, Amazon founder Jeff Bezos, according to four people who were briefed on the decision.”
The decision not to endorse a candidate for President drew criticism from many, including former employees of the media outlet.
“We respect the traditional independence of the editorial page, but this decision 12 days out from the 2024 presidential election ignores the Washington Post’s own overwhelming reportorial evidence on the threat Donald Trump poses to democracy,” Bob Woodward and Carl Bernstein wrote.
“Under Jeff Bezos’s ownership, the Washington Post’s news operation has used its abundant resources to rigorously investigate the danger and damage a second Trump presidency could cause to the future of American democracy and that makes this decision even more surprising and disappointing, especially this late in the electoral process.”
