Washington Post CEO Williams Lewis said he pulled the plug on the paper’s endorsement of Vice President Kamala Harris – amid fierce backlash that owner Jeff Bezos was responsible for the controversial decision.
Lewis rejected claims the Amazon billionaire killed the already planned endorsement for the Democratic nominee – breaking 36 years of tradition at the paper – just 11 days before the 2024 election, stressing that he himself is against presidential endorsements.
“Reporting around the role of The Washington Post owner and the decision not to publish a presidential endorsement has been inaccurate,” Lewis said in a statement, according to The Daily Beast.
“He was not sent, did not read and did not opine on any draft. As Publisher, I do not believe in presidential endorsements. We are an independent newspaper and should support our readers’ ability to make up their own minds.”
Friday’s decision – which will also stand for “any future presidential election,” according to Lewis – follows the Los Angels Times, whose billionaire owner, Patrick Soon-Shiong, also declined to issue an endorsement, leading to a flood of resignations from its editorial board.
Following the announcement, the newspaper published an article written by two reporters saying that editorial page staffers had already drafted an endorsement for Harris over former President Donald Trump, and were awaiting approval from Lewis and Bezos before it was squashed.
One WashPo editor, Robert Kagan, has already resigned over the decision, while 2,000 readers canceled their subscriptions within 24 hours, which one staffer said was “an unusually high number,” Semafor reported.
Furious high-profile staffers have also taken to social media blasting Friday’s announcement.
“I didn’t sign up to be a journalist to be silent on what matters most. I didn’t come here to be a coward. Some of us really, truly believe in speaking truth to power. We were betrayed today,” Washington Post columnist Karen Attiah wrote on X Friday.
Marty Baron, the former editor of The Washington Post, called the paper’s decision “cowardice, with democracy at its casualty.”
Famed Watergate reporters Bob Woodward and Carl Bernstein also criticized the decision to keep the Washington Post neutral in the 2024 presidential race by declining to endorse Harris for president.
“We respect the traditional independence of the editorial page, but this decision 11 days out from the 2024 presidential election ignores the Washington Post’s own overwhelming reportorial evidence on the threat Donald Trump poses to democracy,” the pair said in a statement published by CNN Friday.
Bezos, who bought the Washington Post in 2013, has not publicly weighed in on the presidential election, amid claims by some WashPo insider who speculate Bezos does not want to alienate Trump as he gains momentum to recapture the White House.