Members of the mainstream media and the Democrat Party freaked out in response to the Washington Post announcing that it would not endorse a candidate in the 2024 presidential election.
Several writers with the paper described the non-endorsement of Vice President Kamala Harris as a “stab in the back,” while others, such as Robert Kagan who served as the paper’s editor-at-large, resigned.
In an opinion piece by William Lewis, the publisher and chief executive officer of the newspaper, it was revealed that the Post would “not be making an endorsement” in the presidential election.
The Washington Post will not be making an endorsement of a presidential candidate in this election. Nor in any future presidential election. We are returning to our roots of not endorsing presidential candidates.
“Today has been an absolute stab in the back,” Karen Attiah, a columnist with the Washington Post, wrote in a post on X. “What an insult to those of us who have literally put our careers and lives on the line, to call out threats to human rights and democracy.”
Former Biden White House Adviser Susan Rice also expressed criticism over the Post’s non-endorsement of Harris, describing the non-endorsement as a “hypocritical, chicken shit move.”
“As a DC native and lifelong subscriber to the Post, I’m disgusted,” Rice wrote in a post on X. “You have lost us.”
In another post Rice wrote: “So much for ‘Democracy Dies in Darkness.’ This is the most hypocritical, chicken shit move from a publication that is supposed to hold people in power to account.”
Skyler Johnson, who serves as the Chair for the Suffolk Young Democrats, wrote in a post on X, “At least now we know ‘Democracy Dies in Darkness’ isn’t a motto, it’s their promise.”
“The first step towards fascism is when the free press cowers in fear,” Rep. Ted Lieu (D-CA) wrote in a post on X.
“Democracy dies in The Washington Post,” former sports anchor Keith Olbermann wrote in a post.
The Washington Post‘s non-endorsement of a candidate comes after the Los Angeles Times, the hometown newspaper of Harris, also announced they would not be endorsing a candidate in the presidential election.
President Joe Biden, former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, and former President Barack Obama have previously been endorsed by the Los Angeles Times.