Jeff Bezos kills Washington Post’s support for Kamala Harris | Real Time Headlines

washington post Trump said on Friday it would not support a candidate in this year’s presidential election, breaking with decades of tradition and prompting immediate criticism of the decision.

The newspaper also published an article on Friday article Two journalists said newsroom staff had drafted an endorsement Kamala Harris Exceed Donald Trump in the election.

“The decision not to publish was made by the owners of The Washington Post— Amazon Founder Jeff Bezos,” The Washington Post quoted two sources with knowledge of the incident as saying.

Trump has been critical of Bezos and the Washington Post throughout his presidency

In a 2019 lawsuit, Amazon claimed $10 billion in losses Cloud Computing Contract Working with the Pentagon to Microsoft as Trump uses “undue pressure…” to harm Bezos, whom he sees as a political enemy.

“The Washington Post will not endorse a presidential candidate in this election, nor will it endorse any future president,” Washington Post CEO Will Lewis wrote in an online explanation of the decision. Endorsements in elections.

“We are returning to our roots of not supporting a presidential candidate,” Lewis wrote.

“We recognize that this will be interpreted in a variety of ways, including as tacit approval of one candidate, a condemnation of another, or an abdication of responsibility,” he wrote. “This is inevitable. We We don’t think so. We believe this is consistent with the values ​​that The Washington Post has always stood for and what we expect from our leaders: character and courage in the service of American ethics, reverence for the American rule of law, and respect for all aspects of human freedom.

The announcement comes days after the chief Los Angeles TimesThe paper’s editorial board resigned in protest after its owner, Patrick Soon-Shiong, decided not to endorse the president.

Xiong Xiang, like Bezos, is a billionaire.

Former Washington Post editor Marty Baron called the Post’s lack of support “cowardice and democracy at its expense” on Twitter.

“@realdonaldtrump sees this as an invitation to further intimidate owner @jeffbezos (and others),” Barron wrote. “Disturbing lack of power in an institution known for its courage.”

The Washington Post Association, the union representing the newspaper’s employees, said in a statement posted on social media site ”. Support a presidential candidate, especially with only 11 days left until a momentous election. “

“Information from our CEO Will Lewis, rather than from the editorial board itself, raises concerns that management is interfering with the work of editorial members,” the association said in a statement. The association noted that the report about Bezos Role in the newsroom.

“We have already seen once-loyal readers cancel their subscriptions,” the association said. “This decision undermines the work of our members at a time when we should be building, not losing, our readers’ trust.”

“Today was an absolute stab in the back,” Post columnist Karen Attiah wrote in a post on the social media site Threads.

“What an insult to those of us who risk our careers and lives to call out threats to human rights and democracy,” Atiyah wrote.

Former Washington Post editor Marty Barron called the paper’s decision “an act of cowardice that undermines democracy.”

“@realdonaldtrump sees this as an invitation to further intimidate owner @jeffbezos (and others),” Barron wrote. “This is troubling in an institution known for its courage.”

Rep. Ted Lieu, a Democrat from California, wrote in his own tweet: “The first step toward fascism is for the liberal media to cower in fear.”

This is developing news. Please check back for updates.