"Ending them is a principled decision" - Jeff Bezos defends blocking Washington Post from presidential endorsement

Jeff Bezos, the founder of the Washington Post, recently shared his opinion on why the Washington Post has decided to stop endorsing the Presidential candidates. The owner of the media outlet stated in an op-ed in the newspaper on Monday, October 28, 2024:

"Presidential endorsements do nothing to tip the scales of an election. No undecided voters in Pennsylvania are going to say, 'I’m going with Newspaper A’s endorsement.' None. What presidential endorsements actually do is create a perception of bias. A perception of non-independence. Ending them is a principled decision, and it’s the right one.”

Jeff Bezos’s statement came hours after the Washington Post declared that they would not be endorsing the Vice President, Kamala Harris. Due to the same, three members of the media outlet resigned from their posts, along with several readers canceling their subscriptions. As the decision was also slammed by several social media users, Jeff Bezos also said:

“I wish we had made the change earlier than we did, in a moment further from the election and the emotions around it. That was inadequate planning and not some intentional strategy.”

The decision by Jeff Bezos’s Washington Post came in light of the upcoming elections, which are scheduled for November 5, 2024. On this day, the citizens will vote to elect the next President of the United States.

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“Neither campaign nor candidate was consulted or informed at any level”: Jeff Bezos denies the allegations to favor Trump

After the Washington Post declared that they would not be endorsing Harris, the founder was met with a lot of criticism as several slammed him and accused him of supposedly favoring the former President, Donald Trump. However, through his latest statement made a day back, the billionaire clarified that the media outlet would not be endorsing any candidate.

In his statement, he also refuted several claims that he is in favor of Trump. Jeff Bezos said:

“I would also like to be clear that no quid pro quo of any kind is at work here. Neither the campaign nor the candidate was consulted or informed at any level or in any way about this decision. It was made entirely internally.”

Furthermore, it is also worth noting that several media outlets like CNN reported that the decision from the top management of The Washington Post came shortly after Blue Origin’s chief executive Dave Limp met with Trump. For the unversed, Blue Origin has also been founded by Jeff Bezos.

Addressing the same, Jeff also wrote

“I knew it would provide ammunition to those who would like to frame this as anything other than a principled decision. But the fact is, I didn’t know about the meeting beforehand. There is no connection between the meeting and the Post’s decision.”

Furthermore, he concluded his statement by claiming that he will not push his “personal interests,” and “not allow this paper to stay on autopilot and fade into irrelevance — overtaken by unresearched podcasts and social media barbs — not without a fight.”

Jeff Bezos took over The Washington Post in August 2013 for $250 million. With the newspaper, he also bought the local publications, website, and real estate owned by the media outlet. Bezos ultimately transferred the ownership to his private investment company, Nash Holdings LLC.