Amazon founder Jeff Bezos breaks silence over the endorsement controversy that sparked last week after The Washington Post decided to not support any candidate in presidential elections.
According to CNN, the newspaper owner, in his first public statement since the endorsement controversy, defended the Washington Post’s decision to withhold endorsement for US Vice President Kamala Harris in the US presidential election.
In a rare op-ed published on Monday evening, October 28, 2024, the billionaire wrote, “Presidential endorsements do nothing to tip the scales of an election. No undecided voters in Pennsylvania are going to say, ‘I’m going with Newspaper A’s endorsement.’ None.”
“What presidential endorsements actually do is create a perception of bias. A perception of non-independence. Ending them is a principled decision, and it’s the right one,” he continued.
The statement of the newspaper owner came hours after thousands of readers canceled their subscriptions and three members of the Post’s editorial board resigned over the decision not to endorse Harris.
Bezos, while acknowledging the decision, said, “I wish we had made the change earlier than we did, in a moment further from the election and the emotions around it. That was inadequate planning and not some intentional strategy.”
Meanwhile, critics, including the former executive editor of the newspaper, called the decision “craven” and “cowardly” and an attempt to satisfy former president and Republican candidate Donald Trump.
