#BoycottAmazon trends after Jeff Bezos-owned Washington Post says it won't endorse presidential candidate for US Elections

In the United States, it's a longstanding tradition for publications¡ªespecially newspapers¡ªto endorse candidates during election season. So, when The Washington Post, one of America's leading daily newspapers, broke with a 36-year tradition on Friday by announcing it would not endorse a presidential candidate, it sparked a firestorm. Outraged readers threatened to cancel their subscriptions, but the backlash didn't stop there. Cries of "Boycott Amazon" spread through X. Here's what's behind the controversy.

The Washington Post recently stirred up controversy when it decided not to endorse a candidate in the upcoming US presidential election on November 5.

According to an article by two staff writers, editorial staff had initially drafted an endorsement in favour of Democratic nominee Kamala Harris over Republican nominee Donald Trump.

Credit: The Washington Post

However, instead of publishing the endorsement, the paper ran a column by publisher Will Lewis, stating that the newspaper would not be endorsing any candidate in this election¡ªor future presidential elections.

Mr. Lewis wrote in a note to staff, "The Washington Post will not be making an endorsement of a presidential candidate in this election. Nor in any future presidential election. We are returning to our roots of not endorsing presidential candidates."

The decision, reportedly made by The Post's owner, Amazon founder Jeff Bezos, has raised eyebrows.

Bezos, who bought the newspaper in 2013, allegedly made the call to scrap the endorsement, according to two sources familiar with the situation.

This move mirrors a similar decision by the Los Angeles Times, where owner Patrick Soon-Shiong blocked an endorsement of Harris, leading to the resignation of the editorials editor in protest.

The union at The Post expressed concern over the timing of the decision, just 11 days before an election they described as "immensely consequential."

A statement from Post Guild leadership on the Washington Post's decision to not endorse a presidential candidate pic.twitter.com/fYU7hkr79K

¡ª Washington Post Guild (@PostGuild) October 25, 2024

They argued that the message from Will Lewis¡ªnot from the Editorial Board¡ªsuggests that management may have interfered with editorial independence.

The biggest irony is The Washington Post's own motto: "Democracy Dies in Darkness," prominently displayed beneath its name.

The backlash quickly spread online, with #BoycottAmazon trending across social media platform X.

This is what Oligarchy is about. Jeff Bezos, the 2nd wealthiest person in the world and the owner of the Washington Post, overrides his editorial board and refuses to endorse Kamala.

Clearly, he is afraid of antagonizing Trump and losing Amazon¡¯s federal contracts. Pathetic. https://t.co/t2e8e4iJHK

¡ª Bernie Sanders (@BernieSanders) October 25, 2024

I canceled my subscriptions to both the Washington Post & Amazon Prime

I know I¡¯m not alone#CancelWaPo #CancelAmazonPrime pic.twitter.com/RmSXyDoJwr

¡ª Garsh (@JLGarsh) October 25, 2024

#BoycottWaPo

¡ª Mark Hamill (@MarkHamill) October 25, 2024

If Jeff Bezos cowers before power, we the consumers should show him ours by staying off Amazon through the election.

¡ª George Takei (@GeorgeTakei) October 25, 2024

Well, this is the only leverage we have. What else can we do? Write letters?

Maybe it¡¯s also time to boycott Amazon.

¡ª Ali Minai (@barbarikon) October 25, 2024

Here's the thing about protesting Bezos's WaPo decision:

1. Canceling your WaPo subscription could impact writers--not Bezos

2. Canceling your Prime subscription could impact Amazon workers--not Bezos.

3. Electing Dems could raise taxes on the wealthy. That impacts Bezos.

¡ª Joel Mendelson (@JPMendelson) October 25, 2024

To stay updated on the stories that are going viral, follow Indiatimes Trending.