In a break from a tradition that dates back to 1976, The Washington Post announced on Friday that it would not endorse a presidential candidate in this year’s election, marking the first such departure since the 1980s. Historically, the publication has backed Democratic nominees, including Barack Obama, Hillary Clinton, and Joe Biden. The decision comes amid significant internal turmoil, including a notable decline in digital subscriptions and several resignations from columnists, following owner Jeff Bezos’s choice to shun Vice President Kamala Harris.
By midday Monday, over 200,000 digital subscribers had canceled their subscriptions, accounting for approximately 8% of the newspaper’s total paid circulation of 2.5 million, which includes print subscribers. Cancellations continued to rise into Monday afternoon, according to NPR. Former Washington Post Executive Editor Marcus Brauchli told NPR on Monday, “It’s a colossal number. The problem is people don’t know why the decision was made. We basically know the decision was made, but we don’t know what led to it.”
More than 200,000 people have canceled their subscriptions to the Washington Post in revolt over the paper’s refusal to endorse Kamala for president. That’s some 8% of the paper’s subscribers. RIP.
? reigns supreme. pic.twitter.com/AvVutGbylg
— Ian Miles Cheong (@stillgray) October 28, 2024
“The Washington Post will not be making an endorsement of a presidential candidate in this election. Nor in any future presidential election,” wrote William Lewis, the publisher and chief executive officer of The Washington Post. “We are returning to our roots of not endorsing presidential candidates.” The post has never endorsed a Republican candidate for president. It marks the first time since the 1988 election that The Washington Post will refrain from endorsing a candidate, as it did when it chose not to support either Michael Dukakis or George H.W. Bush.
Trump, meanwhile, has deeply cut into a voting bloc that has historically never backed a Republican presidential candidate in any significant numbers, which is really bad news for Harris. Trump received endorsements from two Muslim leaders on Saturday at a rally in Novi, Michigan, which may indicate that Kamala Harris’s campaign is faltering with a traditionally Democratic voter bloc.
A recent poll from Arab News/YouGov shows that 43 percent of Arab American voters are likely to support Kamala, while 45 percent lean toward Trump. Regarding peace between Israel and Palestine, 39 percent believe Trump would effectively resolve the conflict, compared to 33 percent who think Kamala is capable of doing so. During the rally, Imam Belal Alzuhairi endorsed the former president, citing his promise to end the wars in both Gaza and Ukraine.
“We, as Muslims, stand with President Trump because he promises peace, not war!” Alzuhairi said before mentioning a “positive meeting” he and other Muslim leaders had with Trump. “We are supporting Donald Trump because he promised to end war in the Middle East and Ukraine,” he went on to say. “The bloodshed has to stop all over the world, and I think this man can make that happen. I personally believe that God saved his life twice for a reason.”
Trump also included Bill Bazzi, a Muslim immigrant and the mayor of Dearborn Heights, Michigan, which has one of the largest Muslim populations in America. “We are going to stop the wars; we are going to make the United States safe again,” Bazzi said. Despite these endorsements, the Harris-Walz campaign has not gained favor with Muslim Americans in Michigan throughout October.
“The campaign kicked out local Muslim political leader and fellow Democrat, Dr. Ahmed Ghanim, from an event Oct. 21 in Royal Oak. To make matters worse, Harris was hosting a discussion with former Republican Wyoming Rep. Liz Cheney, who, suffice it to say, is not too popular among Muslim American voters due to her predilection for invading Muslim countries and blowing them to smithereens,” the Daily Caller noted.
“To treat the average Muslim man like a nobody while rolling out the red carpet for the elitist warmonger — that’s not a great look at all. If Kamala ends up losing Michigan because of Muslim Americans upset with her administration’s handling of the Israel-Gaza war, it will be one of the biggest political screw-ups in recent memory,” the outlet added.
Disclaimer: This article may contain commentary which reflects the author’s opinion.