Blocked Harris endorsement by Bezos’ Washington Post criticized

by Joe Siegel

Following pressure from billionaire owner Jeff Bezos, the Washington Post editorial board decided not to endorse Kamala Harris for president just days before the election. Their action resulted in a swift backlash. The paper has lost over 250,000 subscribers who were outraged by the non-endorsement. Two columnists resigned in protest. Bezos was apparently afraid of alienating Republican presidential candidate, now president-elect Donald Trump.

Kevin Naff, editor of the Washington Blade, was quick to pen a scathing editorial on October 29.

“It’s outrageous that the Washington Post would capitulate to Trump, who just last week referred to journalists as the ‘enemy of the people,’ dark rhetoric that endangers the lives of reporters as we saw in the attack on the Annapolis Capital Gazette that killed five,” Naff wrote. “The Post has melodramatically claimed for years that ‘Democracy Dies in Darkness’ — clearly their deeds don’t match their words. This is what happens when wealthy corporate owners take over once independent newsrooms. It’s unconscionable that the Post would decline to endorse a capable and honest sitting vice president over a convicted felon who idolizes Adolf Hitler.”

Troy Masters, editor of the Los Angeles Blade, found the Post’s decision to be “spineless and hypocritical.”

“I think of it as a front line blow to journalism by the MAGA-ites, evidence of a successful takedown of the once invincible bulwarks of democracy the Fourth Estate,” Masters wrote. “The billionaires have become modern oligarchs and that is clear, as shown by the LA triumvirate of the nations wealthiest barons: [Elon] Musk, Bezos, [Los Angeles Times owner Patrick] Soon-Shiong. If Trump wins they own much more of everything and Trump has vowed to allow them to rebuild regulatory agencies to reflect their desired free-market.”

Soon-Shiong has also influenced and blocked endorsements at his newspaper.

Cynthia Laird, news editor of San Francisco’s Bay Area Reporter noted, “I found it incredible that the Washington Post’s and Los Angeles Times’ billionaire owners caved and at the 11th hour, said their papers would not make an endorsement in the presidential race. … I know newspaper endorsements aren’t what they used to be. However, when a publication has been making them for decades, only to reverse course at the last minute, it’s more than what Bezos and Soon-Shiong are saying. In this case, it’s caving to Trump in the event he is elected.”

Rick Todd, publisher of Watermark, based in Orlando, Fla., said, “I think for an established news organization to abandon their presidential endorsement while still endorsing other races is a pretty obvious political statement on the part of the owner. It is obvious Bezos is threatened by the idea of a Trump presidency and is using this fear to change the operations of his news source. It is a shame.”

Business owners caving to pressure from politicians has long been a problem, according to Todd. “It’s happened here in Florida. Businesses are scared to support LGBTQ+ rights as a result of [Gov. Ron] DeSantis’ attacks on Disney and the Tampa Bay Rays. This is the time for business to stand up and defend this country, not cower.”

Todd said even though Watermark has had a policy of not endorsing candidates, the paper did endorse Harris and her running mate Tim Walz.

The Dallas Voice has also endorsed Harris. The paper endorsed Hillary Clinton in 2016 and Joe Biden in 2020.

“Harris is an outstanding candidate with a proven record and plans that will take the country forward, whereas, as I said, Trump remains a danger not just to our community and to our country, but to the very ideal of democracy,” Tammye Nash, the newspaper’s managing editor, explained.

Nash also expressed outrage over the Post’s decision not to endorse Harris.