The paper has issued endorsements for decades.
The Washington Post will not make an endorsement in the 2024 presidential race, the paper’s publisher said on Oct. 25.
“We are returning to our roots of not endorsing presidential candidates,” William Lewis, the publisher and CEO, said in an opinion article.
The Washington Post did not offer endorsements for presidential candidates until 1976. Since then, the paper has endorsed Democrats in each election. The only exception was 1988, when the paper did not endorse any of the candidates.
Former President Donald Trump, a Republican, is running against Vice President Kamala Harris, a Democrat. Some minor party candidates are also vying for the presidency.
Lewis said the paper would refrain from endorsing presidential candidates this year, and moving forward.
“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. 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,” he wrote.
“We also see it as a statement in support of our readers’ ability to make up their own minds on this, the most consequential of American decisions—whom to vote for as the next president,” he added.
Lewis indicated that stepping away from endorsements would help the Washington Post be an independent paper in the nation’s capital. He said he sees the paper as providing nonpartisan news for all Americans.
Lewis, formerly the publisher of the Wall Street Journal and an editor at the UK’s Daily Telegraph, joined the Washington Post in January. The paper is owned by Amazon founder and billionaire Jeff Bezos.
The Washington Post declining to endorse a presidential candidate came after the Los Angeles Times did not issue an endorsement.
Top editors at the paper said they planned to endorse Harris, but were blocked by its owner, Patrick Soon-Shiong. One editor resigned over the move.
Soon-Shiong wrote on the social media platform X that the paper’s editorial board was asked to analyze the positions of Trump and Harris.
“In addition, the Board was asked to provide their understanding of the policies and plans enunciated by the candidates during this campaign and its potential effect on the nation in the next four years. In this way, with this clear and non-partisan information side-by-side, our readers could decide who would be worthy of being President for the next four years,” he said. “Instead of adopting this path as suggested, the Editorial Board chose to remain silent and I accepted their decision.”
The Teamsters union also announced in September it would not endorse a presidential candidate, for the first time since 1996.