--- title: Jeff Bezos Defends Washington Post Non-Endorsement description: The decision set off a firestorm of criticism, internal resignations, and reportedly the cancellation of some 200,000 of the paper’s subscribers. canonical: https://time.com/7113703/jeff-bezos-washington-post-trump-harris-endorsement-explanation-lost-subscribers/ author: TIME article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2024-10-29T02:15:00.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-03-10T23:01:49.954Z article:section: Politics og:title: Jeff Bezos Defends Washington Post Non-Endorsement og:description: The decision set off a firestorm of criticism, internal resignations, and reportedly the cancellation of some 200,000 of the paper’s subscribers. og:url: https://time.com/7113703/jeff-bezos-washington-post-trump-harris-endorsement-explanation-lost-subscribers/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt2cbd9c8b9b6af4c0/698a8d1d9862f5677189b1a7/GettyImages-1419421736.jpg?branch=production&width=1024&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 1024 og:image:height: 576 og:image:alt: "The Lord Of The Rings: The Rings Of Power" World Premiere – Arrivals og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Jeff Bezos Defends Washington Post Non-Endorsement twitter:description: The decision set off a firestorm of criticism, internal resignations, and reportedly the cancellation of some 200,000 of the paper’s subscribers. twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt2cbd9c8b9b6af4c0/698a8d1d9862f5677189b1a7/GettyImages-1419421736.jpg?branch=production&width=1024&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Jeff Bezos Says Washington Post Withheld Endorsement to Address ‘Credibility Gap’ > Sponsored content. 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Brief is TIME's Washington newsletter, written by senior correspondent Philip Elliott. It explains the politics, personalities and power dynamics behind the headlines, three times a week. It reaches 85,000 subscribers with a 37.0% open rate as of August 2026. #### Where can I get analysis of Washington politics by email? D.C. Brief is TIME's free Washington politics newsletter, available at time.com/newsletters. It is written by a TIME senior correspondent who covers the capital full time. #### Who writes TIME's D.C. Brief? Philip Elliott, a senior correspondent at TIME, writes D.C. Brief. #### Is D.C. Brief free? Yes. D.C. Brief is free at time.com/newsletters. by [Christopher Palmeri and Hannah Miller / Bloomberg](https://time.com/author/bloomberg/) ## Christopher Palmeri and Hannah Miller / Bloomberg Contributor Oct 29, 2024 2:15 AM UTC  Jeff Bezos in London on Aug. 30, 2022. Jeff Bezos in London on Aug. 30, 2022. Samir Hussein—WireImage/Getty Images by [Christopher Palmeri and Hannah Miller / Bloomberg](https://time.com/author/bloomberg/) ## Christopher Palmeri and Hannah Miller / Bloomberg Contributor Oct 29, 2024 2:15 AM UTC Amazon.com Inc. founder Jeff Bezos, the owner of the _Washington Post_, said the newspaper’s decision to stop endorsing presidential candidates addresses a “credibility gap” afflicting the media industry. “Most people believe the media is biased,” Bezos said in an [essay](https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2024/10/28/jeff-bezos-washington-post-trust/) published on the _Post_’s website. “Anyone who doesn’t see this is paying scant attention to reality.” Bezos also said the _Post_’s action was unrelated to former President [Donald Trump](https://time.com/6972021/donald-trump-2024-election-interview/)’s meeting with executives from Blue Origin, another of his businesses, on the day of the announcement. “I sighed when I found out, because I knew it would provide ammunition to those who would like to frame this as anything other than a principled decision,” Bezos wrote. The _Post_’s publisher, William Lewis, announced on Oct. 25 that the newspaper would no longer choose sides in presidential races, something it has done regularly since 1978\. Editorial staff had been prepared to endorse Trump’s Democratic rival, Vice President [Kamala Harris](https://time.com/7081350/kamala-harris-presidential-platform-policies/). The decision set off a firestorm of criticism, both inside and outside of the newspaper. Multiple editors and writers resigned. As many as 200,000 subscribers, or 8% of the total, canceled, National Public Radio [reported](https://www.npr.org/2024/10/28/nx-s1-5168416/washington-post-bezos-endorsement-president-cancellations-resignations). A spokesperson for the _Post_ declined to comment. Among those criticizing the decision were former _Post_ executive editor [Marty Baron](https://www.newyorker.com/news/q-and-a/marty-baron-on-the-washington-posts-spineless-endorsement-decision), as well as [Bob Woodward and Carl Bernstein](https://x.com/carlbernstein/status/1850216999994937611), the _Post_ reporters whose reporting on the Watergate scandal led President Richard Nixon to resign. In his essay, Bezos said presidential endorsements do “nothing to tip the scales of an election.” Instead they “create a perception of bias.” That has allowed the space to be filled by social media posts and other unverified news sources. He urged readers to realize that changes like the endorsement decision are necessary. “I will also not allow this paper to stay on autopilot and fade into irrelevance—overtaken by unresearched podcasts and social media barbs—not without a fight,” Bezos wrote. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/7113703/jeff-bezos-washington-post-trump-harris-endorsement-explanation-lost-subscribers/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/7113703/jeff-bezos-washington-post-trump-harris-endorsement-explanation-lost-subscribers/"},"headline":"Jeff Bezos Says Washington Post Withheld Endorsement to Address ‘Credibility Gap’","datePublished":"2024-10-29T02:15:00.000Z","dateModified":"2026-03-10T23:01:49.954Z","description":"The decision set off a firestorm of criticism, internal resignations, and reportedly the cancellation of some 200,000 of the paper’s subscribers.","url":"https://time.com/7113703/jeff-bezos-washington-post-trump-harris-endorsement-explanation-lost-subscribers/","keywords":["2024 Elections","wire","overnight","News Desk"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt2cbd9c8b9b6af4c0/698a8d1d9862f5677189b1a7/GettyImages-1419421736.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Christopher Palmeri and Hannah Miller / Bloomberg"}],"articleSection":"Politics","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt2cbd9c8b9b6af4c0/698a8d1d9862f5677189b1a7/GettyImages-1419421736.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"\"The Lord Of The Rings: The Rings Of Power\" World Premiere – Arrivals","caption":"\"The Lord Of The Rings: The Rings Of Power\" World Premiere – Arrivals","creditText":"Samir Hussein—WireImage/Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/politics/","name":"Politics"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/2024-election/","name":"2024 Elections"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/7113703/jeff-bezos-washington-post-trump-harris-endorsement-explanation-lost-subscribers/","name":"Jeff Bezos Says Washington Post Withheld Endorsement to Address ‘Credibility Gap’"}}]}] ```