The Washington Posts humor columnist sneaks in presidential endorsement after iconic paper refused to back Kamala Harris

The Washington Posts humor columnist has penned a column in which she shares her personal endorsement for Kamala Harris after the newspaper withheld the papers planned endorsement of the Democratic candidate. 

Alexandra Petri, who is described as being a writer with a lighter take on the news and opinions of the day outlined her choice in her column on Saturday. 

I would be a little embarrassed that it has fallen to me, the humor columnist, to make our presidential endorsement. I will spare you the suspense: I am endorsing Kamala Harris for president, because I like elections and want to keep having them, Petri wrote.

I’m just a humor columnist. I only know what’s happening because our actual journalists are out there reporting, knowing that their editors have their backs, that there’s no one too powerful to report on, that we would never pull a punch out of fear.

...if we think Trump should not return to the White House and Harris would make a fine president, we’re going to be able to say so. That’s why I, the humor columnist, am endorsing Kamala Harris by myself! she added.

The Washington Posts humor columnist, Alexandra Petri, has written a column in which she shares her own endorsement for Kamala Harris after the newspaper withheld is planned endorsement of the Democratic candidate

Last week it emerged how the Posts editorial board had written a leader column endorsing Democratic candidate Kamala Harris, but the piece was allegedly spiked after the newspapers owner and Amazon found Jeff Bezos stepped in. 

The decision was immediately condemned by a former executive editor but one that the current publisher insisted was consistent with the values the Post has always stood for. 

Sources told the Post reporters that Amazon billionaire and Washington Post owner Jeff Bezos made the decision

Such claims have been denied by the papers publisher Will Lewis, but the decision has roiled the newsroom with more than a dozen staffers wrote their own column slamming the Posts decision accusing the paper of abandoning the fundamental editorial convictions of the newspaper that we love.

This is a moment for the institution to be making clear its commitment to democratic values, the rule of law and international alliances, and the threat that Donald Trump poses to them—the precise points The Post made in endorsing Trumps opponents in 2016 and 2020, the columnists wrote.  

In an article posted on the front of its website, the Washington Post - reporting on its own inner workings - also quoted unidentified sources within the publication as saying that an endorsement of Harris over Trump had been written but not published. 

Those sources told the Post reporters that Amazon billionaire and Washington Post owner Jeff Bezos made the decision.

The papers page editor David Shipley had already approved an endorsement of Harris

The Washington Post has decided not to endorse either candidate running for president 

The Posts publisher, Will Lewis, wrote in a column that the decision was actually a return to a tradition the paper had years ago of not endorsing candidates.

He said it reflected the papers faith in our readers ability to make up their own minds.

We recognize that this will be read in a range of ways, including as a tacit endorsement of one candidate, or as a condemnation of another, or as an abdication of responsibility. That is inevitable, Lewis wrote. 

We dont see it that way. We see it as consistent with the values the Post has always stood for and what we hope for in a leader: character and courage in service to the American ethic, veneration for the rule of law, and respect for human freedom in all its aspects.

The Post said the decision had roiled many on the opinion staff, which operates independently from the Posts newsroom staff - what is known commonly in the industry as a church-state separation between those who report the news and those who write opinion.

Several other longtime columnists have resigned in disgust at the decision to pull any endorsement. 

Ex-editor at large and longtime columnist Robert Kagan, a conservative Trump critic, resigned from his position in the editorial board after the decision emerged.

The Washington Posts publisher Will Lewis rejected claims that Bezos was involved in the endorsement decision

Kagan suggested Bezos had set up a deal with Bezos and his space company Blue Origin.

Another columnist, Michele Norris, walked out the door on Sunday writing on X that the decision not to endorse was a terrible mistake. 

The Posts decision to withhold an endorsement that had been written & approved in an election where core democratic principles are at stake was a terrible mistake & an insult to the papers own longstanding standard.

The response from the Posts staff has been uniformly outraged, according to NPRs David Folkenflik. 

The Washington Post Guild issued a statement denouncing the move.

We are deeply concerned that The Washington Post would make the decision to no longer endorse presidential candidates, especially a mere 11 days ahead of an immensely consequential election, it read.

Bob Woodward and Carl Bernstein, the famous Washington Post reporters who uncovered Watergate, slammed the papers decision not to endorse a presidential candidate

We respect the traditional independence of the editorial page, but this decision 11 days out from the 2024 presidential election ignores the Washington Post’s own overwhelming reportorial evidence on the threat Donald Trump poses to democracy, Woodward and Bernstein wrote in a statement

The two infamous Washington Post reporters who uncovered Watergate also slammed the papers decision not to endorse a candidate. 

Bob Woodward and Carl Bernstein released a joint statement to CNN in which they expressed their disappointment in the Posts decision. 

It said: We respect the traditional independence of the editorial page, but this decision 11 days out from the 2024 presidential election ignores the Washington Post’s own overwhelming reportorial evidence on the threat Donald Trump poses to democracy.

Under Jeff Bezos’s ownership, the Washington Post’s news operation has used its abundant resources to rigorously investigate the danger and damage a second Trump presidency could cause to the future of American democracy.

That makes this decision even more surprising and disappointing, especially this late in the electoral process.

Woodward and Bernstein became legends in the world of journalism after they broke Watergate - a sordid political scandal that involved the Nixon administration and his re-election campaign. 

Thanks to the pairs investigative reporting, the true extent of Watergate was uncovered, and Nixon was ultimately forced to resign from office. 

Woodward and Bernstein became legends in the world of journalism after they exposed Watergate - a sordid political scandal that involved the Nixon administration and his re-election campaign

The Washington Post has announced it will not endorse a presidential candidate, sparking fury among its liberal readers who are pledging to cancel their subscriptions to the paper

Woodward and Bernstein arent the only ones who are frustrated with the Posts decision, though. 

Many of the outlets liberal readers are now pledging to cancel their subscriptions.

The papers page editor David Shipley had already approved an endorsement of Harris and had reportedly told colleagues that it was being reviewed by the papers owner Jeff Bezos, according to NPR. 

But on Friday CEO Will Lewis published an op-ed that the paper is returning to its roots of not endorsing presidential candidates.

Columnist Robert Kagan, a conservative Trump critic, resigned from his position in the editorial board after the decision emerged

Another columnist, Michele Norris, walked out the door on Sunday writing on X that the decision not to endorse was a terrible mistake

The papers staff learned of the decision from page editor Shipley in a tense meeting on Friday, according to NPR. 

Shipley told staff he owned the decision and it was meant to create independent space where the paper does not tell people how to vote. 

However, The Post itself has reported that it was Bezos who made the decision to not endorse a presidential candidate.

The role of an Editorial Board is to do just this: to share opinions on the news impacting our society and culture and endorse candidates to help guide readers... The message from our chief executive, Will Lewis — not from the Editorial Board itself — makes us concerned that management interfered with the work of our members in Editorial

According to our own reporters and Guild members, an endorsement for Harris was already drafted, and the decision to not to publish was made by The Post’s owner, Jeff Bezos.

We are already seeing cancellations from once loyal readers. This decision undercuts the work of our members at a time when we should be building our readers’ trust, not losing it.

Former Post executive editor Martin Baron said: This is cowardice, a moment of darkness that will leave democracy as a casualty. Donald Trump will celebrate this as an invitation to further intimidate The Post’s owner, Jeff Bezos (and other media owners). 

History will mark a disturbing chapter of spinelessness at an institution famed for courage.