Washington Post Loses 250,000 Subscribers After Jeff Bezos Kills Harris Endorsement

The Washington Post has seen more than 250,000 readers cancel their paid subscriptions in recent days following a report that owner Jeff Bezos stopped the paper from endorsing Kamala Harris for president, according to NPR’s David Folkenflik. Amazing losses account for about 10% of all paid subscriptions.

The mass cancellations began late last week after several news outlets reported that the Washington Post would not endorse a presidential candidate this year, with less than two weeks until Election Day. It was later revealed that Bezos himself made the decision, despite the paper’s chief executive and publisher Will Lewis coming out on Friday to suggest that the Amazon founder had no role in the decision.

“Reporting on the role of the owner of The Washington Post and the decision not to publish the president’s approval was wrong,” said Lewis in a statement sent to The Daily Beast on the afternoon of October 26. “He was not sent, he did not read and he did not speak in any draft. As a publisher, I don’t believe in presidential approval. We are an independent newspaper and we must support the ability of students to make up their own minds.”

But that was very misleading. Bezos may not have been sent the draft, he didn’t need to. The millionaire took full ownership of the fact that his newspaper would not publish the confirmation this year, even writing his own defense of the decision published on Monday.

Bezos gave the stupid explanation that since trust in the media is so low, he wants to restore it by… killing the president’s endorsements. It probably makes sense to that millionaire brain of his, but it doesn’t pass the smell test for anyone with the faintest of senses.

“Getting rid of them is a definite decision, and it’s the right decision,” Bezos wrote about the president’s endorsement. “Eugene Meyer, publisher of The Washington Post from 1933 to 1946, thought the same, and he was right.”

And if you’re a history student you might remember that 1933-1946 was kind of an important period of resistance to fascism. The Nazis took power in 1933 and World War II ended in 1945. So by killing off the authorization that acts as a nod to fascism, Bezos is certainly making a point—not the one he intended to make.

People who speculated that Bezos was hoping to curry favor with Trump by raising the guarantee pointed to a meeting between Trump and executives at Bezos’ space company Blue Origin on Friday. It appeared to be negative evidence for that theory, but Bezos has denied any connection.

“I would also like to clarify that there is no quid pro quo of any kind at work here,” Bezos wrote. “No campaign or candidate was contacted or informed at any level or in any way about this decision. It is completely internalized. Dave Limp, the CEO of one of my companies, Blue Origin, met with former president Donald Trump on the day of our announcement.”

“I groaned when I found out,” wrote Bezos, “because I knew it would give ammunition to those who would like to set it up as something other than a predetermined decision.” But the truth is, I didn’t know about the meeting beforehand.”

Even if we take Bezos at his word that there was no quid pro quo, that’s not usually how power and influence work in politics. It is more often influence in a broader sense than “I pay you X amount of money for some action in favor of my company.” In fact, the US Supreme Court recently ruled that common forms of sales are perfectly legal, as long as any bribes are defined as good money.

Bezos wrote that there would have to be other changes to his paper. And he hinted that there will be more dramatic moves.

“Although I wouldn’t do it again “I will not push my personal interests, and I will not allow this paper to remain on autopilot and pass into doubt – consumed by untested podcasts and social networks – without a fight,” wrote Bezos.

“It is very important. The numbers are very high. Now more than ever the world needs an honest, trustworthy, independent voice, and where better for that voice to come than in the capital of the most important country in the world? To win this battle, we will have to train new muscles. Some changes will return to the past, while others will be new. “

For many people, the timing of Bezos’ decision to kill Harris’ endorsement is highly questionable. Even former Washington Post editor-in-chief Marty Baron said as much in an interview with NPR on Monday.

“If this decision had been taken three years ago, two years ago, maybe even a year ago, it would have been right,” said Baron. “It’s a really smart decision. But this was done within a few weeks of the election, and there was no serious discussion with the paper’s editorial board. Obviously it was done for other reasons, not because of higher principles.”

What has Bezos been up to lately, as Washington Post employees reportedly don’t even know where he’s been during this crisis? Well, Semafor recently published a report that she is in Venice, Italy for Katy Perry’s birthday party. And it’s a good reminder that billionaires could do anything else with their time than destroy important institutions and bring water to the fascists.