Leftists suffered a meltdown Friday after the editors of the Washington Post announced they would no longer endorse in presidential races starting with this year’s contest between former President Donald Trump and Vice President Kamala Harris.
“The Washington Post will not be making an endorsement of a presidential candidate in this election. Nor in any future presidential election,” read a note from the Post’s publisher and editor-in-chief, William Lewis. “We are returning to our roots of not endorsing presidential candidates.”
The decision to refrain from making a presidential endorsement this year means Harris will be the first Democrat on the ticket in more than 30 years not to receive the explicit support of the D.C. paper’s editorial board. In September, Harris also became the first candidate for president who failed to receive the endorsement from the International Brotherhood of Teamsters which has endorsed every Democrat since 2000.
The Washington Post’s announcement Friday was met with outrage among left-wing readers and columnists, including several who write for the paper.
“Jesus christ,” wrote Post columnist Karen Attiah on X just minutes after her paper’s announcement.
In another post to X, Attiah shared a statement she signed with more than a dozen other columnists for the Washington Post demanding the editors endorse Vice President Harris.
“This is a moment for the institution to be making clear its commitment to democratic values, the rule of law and international alliances, and the threat that Donald Trump poses to them — the precise points The Post made in endorsing Trump’s opponents in 2016 and 2020,” wrote the 17 opinion columnists. “An independent newspaper might someday choose to back away from making presidential endorsements. But this isn’t the right moment, when one candidate is advocating positions that directly threaten freedom of the press and the values of the Constitution.”
The joint statement was signed by Max Boot and Jennifer Rubin, the latter of whom had just cheered the resignation of a Los Angeles Times editor two days prior when the west coast publication similarly declined to endorse in this year’s presidential contest.
“I am resigning because I want to make it clear that I am not okay with us being silent,” said LA Times editorials editor Mariel Garza in an interview with the Columbia Journalism Review. “In dangerous times, honest people need to stand up. This is how I’m standing up.”
“Bravo. All respect,” Rubin wrote on X in respond to Garza. “and where are the rest of them?”
Federalist Senior Editor Mark Hemingway wrote, “now that [Washington Post] is not endorsing, resigning from the paper seems like the honorable thing for [Rubin] to do.”
The Washington Post’s union guild also published a statement that staff were “deeply concerned” about the paper’s decision not to issue a formal endorsement.
“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,” the Guild said. “We are already seeing cancellations from once loyal readers.”
“Star Wars” actor Mark Hammil was similarly incredulous about the Washington Post’s no-endorsement this election cycle and posted a screenshot on X of a canceled subscription.
“Just canceled the newspaper that told us ‘Democracy Dies In Darkness,” Hammill wrote, calling on his more than 5 million followers to do the same.
Comments are closed.