Voters in the nation’s capital are reeling from news that major outlets, including the hometown Washington Post, have refused to endorse a presidential candidate as Election Day quickly approaches.
The Washington Post and Los Angeles Times, along with many other papers, deliberately chose between former President Trump and Vice President Kamala Harris; both the Post and the Times have reliably supported Democrats in the polls for years.
Several people told Fox News Digital that they believe the choice by these major liberal institutions not to nominate a candidate before the November election is an acknowledgment that Harris is a “shaky” candidate and they don’t want to be embarrassed if he loses. .
“If Trump gets in, I feel they’re a little worried about retaliation,” said Mike, a New Hampshire resident visiting DC, adding, “Harris is not the most secure person in the world, and I think. people are afraid to throw behind him when things look fragile.”
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DC voters spoke to Fox News Digital about liberal outlets refusing to endorse presidential candidates this election cycle. (Background photo: Nathan Howard / Stringer – Getty Images)
Another Virginia resident made this point, saying that not endorsing “is a good decision because I think Kamala is going to lose this time and most of the time these people approve of Democratic candidates.”
He continued, “And I’m 100% sure this time that Trump will win. That’s why they don’t want to make fun of themselves. That’s why they stopped supporting any candidate.”
In recent days, The Post and the LA Times have announced that they will not endorse a presidential candidate this cycle. Post owner Jeff Bezos published an op-ed Monday defending the paper’s decision as a way to restore public trust in the media.
“We must be honest, and we must be believed to be accurate. It is a bitter pill to swallow, but we fail on the second requirement,” Bezos wrote. “Most people believe that the media is biased. Anyone who doesn’t see this is ignorant of the truth, and those who fight the truth lose.”
He also noted that he believes endorsements do nothing to affect elections other than creating a “perception of bias” among the public.
Bezos’ intention to make the paper more nonpartisan follows nearly 50 years of The Post endorsing the Democratic presidential nominee, except for the 1988 election, when it also refused to pick a side.
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Billionaire and Washington Post owner Jeff Bezos wrote in an op-ed recently explaining why his paper did not endorse a presidential candidate this year.
It’s a surprising decision and since the paper has previously called Trump “very dangerous,” said he has an “extreme agenda” and believes he is America’s worst modern president.
The owner of the Los Angeles Times, Dr. Patrick Soon-Shiong, has made the decision to block his endorsement of any presidential candidate for the first time since the 2008 cycle. It has been predicted to support Democrats in the past four races.
USA Today also announced it would not endorse Trump or Harris, with a spokesperson telling Fox News, “our public duty is to provide readers with the important facts and reliable information they need to make informed decisions.”
The area had endorsed a presidential candidate once before in its history, electing Joe Biden in 2020.
When asked if they supported large-scale legalization of the presidential election, voters gave Fox mixed answers.
Patrice and Candace, who are from Detroit, said they agreed with the endorsements, and were disappointed that they did not say they supported Harris.
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USA Today announced this week that it will not nominate a presidential candidate before Nov. 5. (ALASTAIR PIKE/AFP via Getty Images)
“I think it’s really sad,” Patrice said, adding, “I think they have to make a decision… a lot of their students need that support and they need that help to make that choice. And I really want them to support Kamala.”
When asked if he believed the store’s approval showed too much bias, he said, “I don’t think it’s biased, if you make a decision you’re informed.”
Candace declared that these stores “need to decide what they want to do – give students an informed decision.” When asked if that shows too much bias, he replied, “No, it doesn’t.”
Matthew from DC said stores “probably should” make recommendations. “It looks like a cop out so they don’t.” He called it “disappointing” that the papers refused to endorse a candidate and when asked who he would endorse if he was on one of their boards, he said, “Harris.”
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LA Times owner Dr. Soon-Shiong angered workers when he scrapped presidential approval on paper this year. (Marcus Yam / Contributor)
Others said they were satisfied that the shops had washed their hands to get the permit.
A Florida woman said, “I don’t think the media should be part of politics,” adding that endorsing a presidential candidate “is changing people’s opinions, and they should do their own research.”
“Honestly, the newspaper is about journalism,” the DC native told Fox. “I don’t think they should allow candidates, so I think it’s better if they stop doing that altogether.”
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