Two anti-Trump WaPo columnists quit following paper’s refusal to endorse Kamala Harris

10/29/2024 / By Laura Harris

Two prominent Washington Post (WaPo) columnists have resigned from the publication following its decision not to endorse a presidential candidate for the 2024 presidential election.

On Oct. 25, billionaire Amazon founder and WaPo owner Jeff Bezos decided not to publish the supposed endorsement for Vice President Kamala Harris. The non-endorsement, posted by publisher and chief executive William Lewis, stated that the news outlet decided to return to its roots of “not endorsing presidential candidates” this presidential election and in any future presidential elections.

Following the announcement, two of its prominent columnists resigned. One is the newspaper’s Editor-at-large Robert Kagan, who is also an author and and has been an outspoken critic of former President Donald Trump. He has been accusing Trump of being “anti-Ukraine” and suggesting that he could “destroy democracy” if reelected.

Additionally, he has been known for his columns warning of the dangers of authoritarianism, including his recent works, “Rebellion: How Antiliberalism is Tearing America Apart – Again” and “The Trump dictatorship: How to stop it.” These works very much exemplify his stance, so he could not bear his disappointment in the decision of his publication to remain neutral. “This just happened,” he said, without giving any further statement.

Michele Norris, another prominent opinion columnist and former NPR host, followed suit on Oct. 26 in a thread on X. Norris, who joined WaPo as a reporter in 1988, called the editorial board’s choice a “terrible mistake” and described it as an affront to the publication’s history, which has consistently endorsed candidates since 1976.

“As of yesterday, I have decided to resign from my role as a columnist for WaPo — a newspaper that I love. In a moment like this, everyone needs to make their own decisions. This is the reason for mine. [WaPo‘s] decision to withhold an endorsement that had been written & approved in an election where core democratic principles are at stake was a terrible mistake & an insult to the paper’s own longstanding standard of regularly endorsing candidates since 1976, ” she said.

“The reason given in no way justifies why the newspaper would abdicate its role in informing and guiding voters as it has done in making endorsements in other key races this year and as it has done in endorsing the candidates who were running against Trump in both 2016 and 2020. To be clear, a newspaper does not forfeit its independence in making endorsements. An endorsement provides guidance based on muscular and independent analysis. And it provides a window into an institution’s core values.” (Related: Bill Gates donates $50M to Kamala Harris-linked PAC.)

18 WaPo columnists release a statement to condemn the decision

Only Kagan and Norris have resigned so far, but that same night after the non-endorsement, 18 of the publication’s opinion columnists published a statement to condemn the decision.

“WaPo‘s decision not to make an endorsement in the presidential campaign is a terrible mistake. It represents an abandonment of the fundamental editorial convictions of the newspaper that we love. 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.”

“There is no contradiction between WaPo‘s important role as an independent newspaper and its practice of making political endorsements, both as a matter of guidance to readers and as a statement of core beliefs. That has never been more true than in the current campaign. 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 statement read.

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Watch Robert F. Kennedy Jr. disclosing Bill Gates’ $50 million donation to Kamala Harris’ Future Forward PAC below.

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