Washington Post owner Jeff Bezos defended the paper’s choice not to endorse a 2024 presidential candidate weeks before the election, arguing that it wouldn’t have made a difference anyway.
Liberal staffers publicly condemned the decision not to endorse Vice President Kamala Harris after it was reported that the draft had already been written. Resignations from Post staff and editorial board members, a mass exodus of subscribers, and Bezos had to defend him. A “philosophical decision” in a rare op-ed.
Bezos was asked about the decision on Wednesday as he was interviewed by New York Times columnist Andrew Ross Sorkin. Dealbook Summit 2024.
After recalling The Post’s history, noting how the organization historically did not endorse candidates after Watergate, he explained, “We just decided, you know, it’s not going to help … it’s not going to influence the election either way.”
Washington Post owner Jeff Bezos defended his choice for the outlet not to endorse a candidate shortly before the 2024 election. (New York Times Dealbook Summit 2024 Live/Posted by Andrew Sorkin)
“There is no evidence that newspaper endorsements influence elections,” Bezos said. “There were no independent voters in Pennsylvania at that time saying, ‘Oh! What about the Washington Post? Well, I’ll do that.’ So it wouldn’t have happened.”
“We decided that the pluses of (an endorsement) were too small and it added to the perception of bias,” he continued. “At the same time, you know, we’re struggling with the problem that all traditional media is struggling with, which is a very difficult and significant loss of trust.”
He said that not only should the media be accurate, but people should trust that it is accurate.
Sorkin read scathing rebuttals that he didn’t particularly approve of By former Post executive editor Marty Baron and journalist David Remnick, but Bezos stood his ground.
Andrew Ross Sorkin and Jeff Bezos speak on stage during the New York Times Dealbook Summit 2024 at Jazz at Lincoln Center on December 04, 2024 in New York City. ((Photo by Eugene Gologursky/Getty Images for The New York Times))
“We made this decision, it was the right decision. I’m proud of the decision we made, and it was far from cowardly because we knew there would be blowback and we did the right thing anyway,” he said.
Sorkin went on to bring up the backlash that caused 250,000 people to cancel their subscriptions, asking whether Bezos’ efforts to restore trust in the media had backfired and instead made him more cautious.
“No, I don’t follow that logic,” Bezos said, adding that he wasn’t surprised by the backlash afterward, adding, “You can’t do the wrong thing because you’re worried about bad PR or because you want us to make the right decision.
While Bezos expressed his optimism about Trump’s next presidency, Sorkin pressed him about the president-elect’s contentious relationship with the media, referring to him as the “enemy.”
“I try to disabuse him of that idea. I don’t think the press is the enemy. And I don’t think, you know, he’s either … you’ve probably grown in the last couple of years. He has, you know, it’s not the enemy of the press,” Bezos said.
Then he said, “Let’s go persuade this. You and I must go. Let’s talk to him.”
Fox News’ Brian Flood contributed to this report.
