In a departure from a tradition dating back to 1976, The Washington Post announced on Friday they would not endorse a presidential candidate in this year’s election, marking the first such break since the 1980s. Historically, the publication has supported Democratic nominees, including Barack Obama, Hillary Clinton, and Joe Biden.
This comes amid significant internal upheaval, including a substantial drop in digital subscriptions and multiple resignations from columnists, following owner Jeff Bezos’s decision to withhold an endorsement for Vice President Kamala Harris.
As of midday Monday, over 200,000 digital subscribers had canceled their subscriptions, representing approximately 8% of the newspaper’s total paid circulation of 2.5 million, which includes print subscribers. The cancellations continued to accumulate into Monday afternoon, according to NPR.
Former Washington Post Executive Editor Marcus Brauchli told NPR on Monday, “It’s a colossal number. The problem is, people don’t know why the decision was made. We basically know the decision was made but we don’t know what led to it.”
More than 200,000 people have canceled their subscriptions to the Washington Post in revolt over the paper’s refusal to endorse Kamala for president. That’s some 8% of the paper’s subscribers. RIP.
𝕏 reigns supreme. pic.twitter.com/AvVutGbylg
— Ian