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Stunner. Reported here at NPR so it must be true.
Even though the presidential race between former President Donald Trump and Vice President Kamala Harris remains neck and neck, The Washington Post editorial page has decided not to make a presidential endorsement for the first time in 36 years, the editorial page editor told colleagues at a tense meeting Friday morning. The meeting was characterized by someone with direct knowledge of discussions on condition of anonymity to speak about internal matters. The editorial page editor, David Shipley, told colleagues that the Post's publisher, Will Lewis, would publish a note to readers online early Friday afternoon. Shipley told colleagues the editorial board was told yesterday by management that there would not be an endorsement. He added that he "owns" this decision. The reason he cited was to create "independent space" where the newspaper does not tell people for whom to vote.
Just spit-balling here: The WaPo is owned by Jeff Bezos. The Post and even Amazon.com are not as profitable as his AWS, a prime competitor for hosting large-scale federal government data storage. Could it be that Jeff sees Trump winning and does not want to do anything to antagonize the incoming administration? Pure speculation — but is it wrong?
Meanwhile, will there be a delightful spate of hissy-fit resignations at the WaPo? The sound of just-ever-so-cross angry little feet being stamped?
Discussion (54)
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That is absolutely astounding.
Your reasoning is plausible, but I doubt it. Antagonizing Republicans is second nature to these people, and they often do so against their own interests. There must be another reason.
Although maybe you're right. Not sure.
Wow. Absolutely astounding.
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I was thinking that Amazon's notorious market crushing scandals might actually get regulated if they invited Trump's ire, but AWS federal contracts work, too. Musk will want to drill down on those, I'm sure.
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I've been catching election fatigue, so I've maybe missed a bit in the last week or so. Still, everything I hear points to a Trump landslide. I don't think/feel that is a possibility and I've been wondering if the whole thing is a coordinated psyop to lead Trump voters into complacency. Why go to the polls if you believe your man has already won?
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As I understand it, the WaPo has never endorsed a Republican for President. In 1988 (the infamous "36 years ago" event) the post declined to endorse either Dukakis or Bush. And, in 1960, the Post failed to endorse JFK.
Still, the hypocrisy is stunning.
Either they believe that Trump is a fascist, a threat to the Constitution, and the end of the American way of life, or they do not.
That they have just declined their best opportunity to speak--on the record--against him is stunning.
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That could be, but early election voting has been huge. If that's what they were trying to do, they're too late.
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