USA Today became the third national news outlet not to endorse a presidential candidate this cycle, rejecting demands from staffers to publicly back Vice President Kamala Harris for president just one week before Election Day.
The outlet previously endorsed President Joe Biden in 2020 – the editorial board’s first presidential endorsement in its history – but will not endorse Harris in 2024, The Hill reported. This includes more than 200 Gannett-owned outlets across the country, however, those outlets can endorse local politicians.
“None of the USA TODAY Network publications are endorsing in presidential or national races,” Lark-Marie Antón, a spokesperson for USA Today, told the Hill on Monday.
“While USA TODAY will not endorse for president, local editors at publications across the USA TODAY Network have the discretion to endorse at a state or local level,” Antón said in a different statement sent to the Hill. “Many have decided not to endorse individual candidates, but rather, endorse key local and state issues on the ballot that impact the community.”
“Why are we doing this? Because we believe America’s future is decided locally – one race at a time,” the spokesperson continued. “And with more than 200 publications across the nation, our public service is to provide readers with the facts that matter and the trusted information they need to make informed decisions.”
MATT WALSH’S ‘AM I RACIST?’ NOW STREAMING ON DAILYWIRE+
Last week, the Los Angeles Times became the first major outlet not to endorse in the presidential race after the editorial board proposed supporting Harris, even though it had endorsed every Democrat presidential candidate since Barack Obama in 2008, The Daily Wire reported. The decision not to endorse reportedly came from Dr. Patrick Soon-Shiong, a wealthy biotech entrepreneur who bought the newspaper six years ago.
A spokesperson for the outlet didn’t deny reports about the rejected endorsement, telling those who asked: “We do not comment on internal discussions or decisions about editorials or endorsements.”
Following the decision, the head of the Times’ editorial board, Mariel Garza, announced she would resign from the paper, The Daily Wire reported.
“I am resigning because I want to make it clear that I am not okay with us being silent,” Garza told the Columbia Journalism Review. “In dangerous times, honest people need to stand up. This is how I’m standing up.”
“I didn’t think we were going to change our readers’ minds—our readers, for the most part, are Harris supporters,” Garza added. “We’re a very liberal paper. I didn’t think we were going to change the outcome of the election in California.”
The Washington Post followed the Times in an announcement that it also would not endorse in the presidential race after its editorial board proposed backing Harris, The Daily Wire reported.
“The Washington Post will not be making an endorsement of a presidential candidate in this election,” the Post Editorial Board said in a statement. “Nor in any future presidential election. We are returning to our roots of not endorsing presidential candidates.”
“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,” the paper added. “That is inevitable. We don’t see it that way.”
The Post reportedly lost more than 200,000 subscribers after the announcement, The Daily Wire reported.
