Bezos breaks decades-old Post tradition, sparking staff exodus and Trump rumors

In a first-time op-ed Jeff Bezos defended his game-changing move to stop Washington Posts presidential endorsements which has caused major fall-out at the paper. Over 200k readers cancelled subscriptions and the papers editor-at-large Robert Kagan left his position in protest

The decision breaks Posts nearly half-century tradition of backing candidates — a practice thats been going since the mid-70s (except for that one time in 88). Bezos firmly denies any under-the-table deals with Donald Trump: “no quid pro quo of any kind“ existed he states; pointing to principles not politics as his main reason

A well-timed coincidence raised some eye-brows: Blue Origin (Bezosʼ space company) executives met with Trump on the same day as the announcement. The company currently holds a $3.4b NASA contract but Bezos says he didnt know about the meet-up beforehand

Presidential endorsements do nothing to tip the scales of an election. No undecided voters in Pennsylvania are going to say‚ ʼIʼm going with Newspaper Aʼs endorsement.ʼ None

The tech-billionaire owner pointed to wider issues in media: elite-focused coverage; perceived bias; and credibility problems. He criticized his own staffʼs reaction saying “a victim mentality will not help“ while defending his decision as necessary for the papers future

Famous Post veterans Bob Woodward and Carl Bernstein (known for their Watergate reporting) called the move disappointing. The papers union expressed deep worry about management stepping into editorial decisions — but Sir William Lewis‚ Posts chief exec‚ backed the change saying theyʼre “returning to our roots“