The Washington Post announced on Friday it would not endorse a presidential candidate in the 2024 election cycle.
The paper will return to a standard of not endorsing any presidential candidate in future elections that it once held. It will be the first non-endorsement from the publication since the 1988 presidential election.
The paper’s editorial writers had already drafted an endorsement of Vice President Kamala Harris before the publication decided to take a neutral stance for the 2024 election.
The decision not to endorse, according to the Washington Post, was made by owner and Amazon founder Jeff Bezos. The Columbia Journalism Review reported that two of the outlet’s board members had worked on the endorsement for weeks, though management knew there wouldn’t be one for a similar amount of time. The writers were taken aback by the decision.
The Washington Post is the second large paper in recent days to decline to endorse a presidential candidate. The Los Angeles Times declined to endorse a presidential candidate as well, causing several editors on its staff to resign. The California paper’s explanation for not offering an endorsement was not as clear as the Washington Post’s, which was a long dedicated editorial to its lack of endorsement.
Washington Post Editor at Large Robert Kagan reportedly resigned following the paper’s decision, according to Semafor.
Washington Post Publisher and CEO William Lewis wrote the article, pointing to a statement from the newspaper’s 1960 editorial board for why it would not be endorsing anyone.
“The Washington Post has not ‘endorsed’ either candidate in the presidential campaign,” the editorial board wrote then. “That is in our tradition and accords with our action in five of the last six elections. The unusual circumstances of the 1952 election led us to make an exception when we endorsed General Eisenhower prior to the nominating conventions and reiterated our endorsement during the campaign. In the light of hindsight we retain the view that the arguments for his nomination and election were compelling. But hindsight also has convinced us that it might have been wiser for an independent newspaper in the Nation’s Capital to have avoided formal endorsement.”
Lewis also wrote that a statement the paper made ahead of the 1960 election between Democrat John F. Kennedy and Republican Richard Nixon “will resonate with readers today.”
“The election of 1960 is certainly as important as any held in this century. This newspaper is in no sense noncommittal about the challenges that face the country,” it says. “As our readers will be aware, we have attempted to make clear in editorials our conviction that most of the time one of the two candidates has shown a deeper understanding of the issues and a larger capacity for leadership.”
Lewis continues a theme of independence throughout the editorial, concluding that most “of all, our job as the newspaper of the capital city of the most important country in the world is to be independent.”
The outlet endorsed President Joe Biden in September 2020 before Lewis became the top executive for the paper earlier this year. An endorsement this year from the Washington Post was the paper’s approval of Democratic Senate candidate Angela Alsobrooks over former Republican Gov. Larry Hogan for Maryland’s Senate seat.
The paper’s non-endorsement of a presidential candidate has already generated backlash. The former executive editor of the paper, Marty Baron, condemned the decision as “cowardice.”
“This is cowardice, with democracy as its casualty,” Baron posted on X. “@realdonaldtrump will see this as an invitation to further intimidate owner @jeffbezos (and others). Disturbing spinelessness at an institution famed for courage.”
The Washington Post Guild also blasted the decision in a lengthy post on X, adding that they’ve seen readers cancel their subscriptions because of it.
“We are deeply concerned that The Washington Post — an American news institution in the nation’s capital — would make the decision to no longer endorse presidential candidates, especially a mere 11 days ahead of an immensely consequential election,” the post says. “The role of an Editorial Board is to do just this: to share opinions on the news impacting our society and culture and endorse candidates to help guide readers. The message from our chief executive, Will Lewis — not from the Editorial Board itself — makes us concerned that management interfered with the work of our members in Editorial.”
“According to our own reporters and Guild members, an endorsement for Harris was already drafted, and the decision not to publish was made by The Post’s owner, Jeff Bezos,” they said. “We are already seeing cancellations from once loyal readers. This decision undercuts the work of our members at a time when we should be building our readers’ trust, not losing it.”
Lewis acknowledged that the paper could be condemned for its decision but pressed forward anyway.
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“We recognize that this will be read in a range of ways, including as a tacit endorsement of one candidate, or as a condemnation of another, or as an abdication of responsibility,” he wrote. “That is inevitable. We don’t see it that way. We see it as consistent with the values The Post has always stood for and what we hope for in a leader: character and courage in service to the American ethic, veneration for the rule of law, and respect for human freedom in all its aspects.”
Other large media outlets, such as the New York Times and the Boston Globe, have endorsed Harris. The New York Post recently endorsed Trump.