Newspaper Washington Post decided do not support any candidate for the first time in decades in the US presidential election, its editor-in-chief William Lewis said.

As such, the newspaper is avoiding positioning itself between Vice President and Democratic nominee Kamala Harris and Republican former President Donald Trump (2017-2021) ahead of the Nov. 5 election.

“The Washington Post will not endorse any candidate in this election or any future presidential election. “We are going back to our roots by not endorsing any presidential candidate,” Lewis said in a newspaper op-ed.

Washington Post He planned to ask for a vote for Kamala Harris.However, the media owner, billionaire Jeff Bezossecond richest man in the world, decided not to publish this endorsement.

Condemnation of subscribers, political figures and media commentators

The newspaper itself reported this, citing two informed sources. The decision, announced 11 days before the elections, sparked a wave of protests. condemnation of subscribers, political figures and media commentators.

Robert Kaganexperienced reviewer mail and editor-in-chief of the opinion department, resigned in protest, and a group of 11 columnists from Washington Post signed an article condemning this decision.

Within hours of the announcement, a group of commentators, including Pulitzer Prize winner Eugene Robinson and former deputy editorial editor Ruth Marcus, called the decision “terrible mistake.”

“This is a moment when the institution must make clear its commitment to democratic values, the rule of law and international alliances, and the threat that Donald Trump poses to them, and the precise moments that ThePost did so by supporting Trump opponents in 2016 and 2020.”

Decision to cease publication there were presidential endorsements photo taken by Jeff BezosThis was reported by four people who were informed of the decision.

Washington Post Guild, which represents editorial staff, issued a statement expressing concern that ThePost “make the decision to stop supporting presidential candidates, especially just 11 days” before the election.

“The role of the editorial board is exactly that: to share opinions about news that impact our society and culture, and to support candidates who will help readers,” he said.

Likewise, “a message from our CEO Will Lewis, not the editorial board itself: We are concerned that management has interfered with the work of our editorial members.”

Washington Post He followed a tradition of not endorsing any candidate for the White House until he changed his position in 1976, and then supported Democrat Jimmy Carter after the Watergate scandal, which the newspaper itself exposed. The last time he did not support anyone was in 1988.

The newspaper has spent years investigating irregularities and contradictions by Trump and his circle and has been sharply critical of the Republican’s rhetoric and refusal to concede his 2020 election loss to Joe Biden.

The decision by William Lewis, who has been in office since last January, upset many of the newspaper’s staff, public radio reported. NPR.

Martin Baron, former director mail during Trump’s presidency (2017-2021), he said NPR that this decision is an act of “cowardice” that will make it easier for Trump “to intimidate even more” Jeff Bezos.

A similar controversy erupted in the newspaper this week. Los Angeles Times, where the head of the editorial board, Marielle Garza, resigned from her position in protest that the newspaper’s owner, Patrick Soon-Shiong blocked the newspaper’s support for Harris.

The Democratic candidate received editorial support from the vast majority of media outlets such as The New York Times, The Boston Globe, The New Yorker, Vogue and Rolling Stone.

Conservative tabloid New York Post, property of tycoon Rupert Murdoch, announced this Friday its Trump support despite being criticized in 2021 for the attack on the Capitol. (According to EFE)