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Washington Post Owner Jeff Bezos Blocks Kamala Harris Endorsement; Editor Resigns

Oct 25, 2024, 06:08 PM

The Washington Post and the Los Angeles Times have both decided not to endorse any candidate in the upcoming 2024 U.S. presidential election, marking significant departures from their longstanding traditions. The Washington Post, which has primarily endorsed Democratic presidential candidates for nearly a century and has not endorsed a Republican since 1928, reportedly had an endorsement for Vice President Kamala Harris prepared. However, the endorsement was approved by opinion editor David Shipley but was subsequently halted by publisher Will Lewis and owner Jeff Bezos. Staff members suspect that Bezos, who owns both the Washington Post and Amazon, may be avoiding endorsing Harris to prevent jeopardizing Amazon's government contracts should Donald Trump win the election. This decision, announced just 11 days before the election, has led to internal tensions, with reports of an internal struggle between staff and management, and the resignation of editor-at-large Robert Kagan in protest. Similarly, the Los Angeles Times, owned by billionaire Patrick Soon-Shiong, has chosen not to endorse Harris, breaking from its pattern of endorsing Democratic candidates since 1980. The decisions by both newspapers have sparked controversy and discussions about the influence of their billionaire owners on editorial decisions.