Breaking: Washington Post Declines to Endorse in Presidential Race, Leaving Staffers ‘Shocked’

For the first time in 36 years the Washington Post will not be endorsing a candidate for president, the paper's publisher announced on Friday in a move that shocked and angered some current and former staffers who have been critical of former president Donald Trump.

Publisher William Lewis announced the decision in an opinion piece on the organization's website. Lewis said the Post is "returning to our roots of not endorsing presidential candidates," repeatedly noting that the Post is an "independent newspaper."

In his piece, Lewis quoted the paper's editorial board in 1960, when it similarly explained that the paper wouldn't be endorsing a presidential candidate. The board said then that not endorsing a candidate is the paper's "tradition."

The Post broke that tradition in 1952 and endorsed Republican Dwight Eisenhower, citing what it called the "unusual circumstances of the 1952 election." The paper again made an exception to the tradition when it endorsed Democrat Jimmy Carter in 1976 in the wake of the Watergate scandal.  The Post hasn't endorsed a Republican since.

The last time the Post didn't endorse a presidential candidate was in the 1988 race between Republican George H.W. Bush and Democrat Michael Dukakis.

"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. We don't see it that way," Lewis wrote. "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."

"We also see it as a statement in support of our readers' ability to make up their own minds on this, the most consequential of American decisions — whom to vote for as the next president," he added.

National Public Radio reported that the announcement was made during a "tense meeting" shortly before Lewis's announcement, and that employees were "shocked."

Former Post executive editor Martin Baron, who led the paper's aggressive coverage of Trump during his presidency, opposed the move. "This is cowardice, a moment of darkness that will leave democracy as a casualty," he told NPR. "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."