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Washington Post owner Jeff Bezos defended the paper’s choice not to endorse a 2024 presidential candidate in the weeks leading up to the election, saying it wouldn’t have made a difference anyway.
Liberal staffers publicly condemned the decision not to back Vice President Kamal Harris after it was reported the draft had already been written. Postal workers and editorial staff resigned, subscribers mass exodus, and Bezos even had to defend “principled decision” in a rare op-ed.
Bezos was asked about the decision on Wednesday when he was interviewed by New York Times columnist Andrew Ross Sorkin at DealBook Summit 2024.
Recalling The Post’s history, noting that the organization historically didn’t endorse candidates until Watergate, he explained, “We just decided it wasn’t going to help … it wasn’t going to affect the election anyway.”
Washington Post owner Jeff Bezos defended his choice not to endorse a candidate shortly before the 2024 election. (The New York Times DealBook Summit 2024 Live/Posted by Andrew Sorkin)
“There is no evidence that newspaper endorsements influence elections,” Bezos said. “Not one independent voter in Pennsylvania at that time said, ‘Oh! Does the Washington Post think so? Well, then I will. So it’s not going to happen.”
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“We just decided that the upside (of the confirmation) was very small, and that 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.”
Not only should the media be accurate, he said, but people should believe they are accurate.
Sorkin read a particularly harsh rebuke of disapproval from former Post executive editor Marty Baron and journalist David Remnick, but Bezos stood his ground.
Andrew Ross Sorkin and Jeff Bezos perform onstage at The New York Times Dealbook Summit 2024 Jazz Festival at Lincoln Center on December 4, 2024 in New York City. ((Photo by Eugene Gologursky/Getty Images for The New York Times))
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“We made that decision, it was the right decision. I’m proud of the decision we made and it wasn’t cowardly at all because we knew there was going to be a blow and we did the right thing anyway,” he said.
Sorkin went on to talk about the backlash, such as 250,000 people canceling their subscriptions, asking if Bezos’ attempt to restore trust in the media had failed and instead made them wary of it.
“No, I didn’t follow that logic,” Bezos said, later adding that he wasn’t surprised by the backlash: “You can’t do the wrong thing because you’re worried about bad PR or whatever you want. It was the right decision. I’m very proud of that decision.
When Bezos expressed optimism about Trump’s future presidency, Sorkin addressed him about the president-elect’s contentious relationship with the media, calling it “the enemy.”
“I’m going to try to talk him out of that idea. I don’t think the press is the enemy. And I don’t think he is either… You’ve probably grown in the last two years. He has too, it’s not. The press is not the enemy .
Later he added, “Let’s go and convince him of that. You and I should go. Let’s go talk to him.”
Fox News’ Brian Flood contributed to this report.
