Washington Post columnist quits, calling the decision to ‘withhold’ endorsement a ‘terrible mistake’

• Michele Norris said she resigned as a columnist at The Washington Post.
• Norris said the Post’s decision not to endorse Kamala Harris was a “terrible mistake.”
• The Post reported that its owner, Jeff Bezos, made the decision.

Michele Norris, a columnist at The Washington Post, has resigned, making her the most recent staffer to leave over the newspaper’s decision not to endorse Vice President Kamala Harris in the 2024 presidential election.

Norris shared the news in an X post on Sunday.

“The Washington Post’s decision to withhold an endorsement that had been written & approved in an election where core democratic principles are at stake was a terrible mistake & an insult to the paper’s own longstanding standard of regularly endorsing candidates since 1976,” she wrote.

The Washington Post said on Friday that it would not endorse a US presidential candidate, angering some editorial staff, including editor at large Robert Kagan, who on Friday also resigned.

Publisher and CEO Will Lewis wrote in a column on Friday that the decision was made to allow Post readers to “make up their own minds” on who to vote for in the presidential election.

“Our job at The Washington Post is to provide through the newsroom nonpartisan news for all Americans, and thought-provoking, reported views from our opinion team to help our readers make up their own minds,” he wrote. “Most of all, our job as the newspaper of the capital city of the most important country in the world is to be independent.”

Norris, who had been a high-profile opinion columnist at the Post since 2019, said on X that the “reason given in no way justifies” the change in policy.

“I am deeply disappointed by the Post’s decision to reverse course and withhold a presidential endorsement in this election cycle when the excellent reporting throughout the entirety of the paper makes clear all that is at stake in the election and around the world,” she wrote.

The newspaper published a separate article on Friday reporting that its owner, Amazon founder Jeff Bezos, ultimately made the call.

The Post reported that editorial page staffers had drafted an endorsement for Harris, who is vying for the Oval Office against former President Donald Trump.

Former Washington Post executive editor Martin Baron criticized the move in a text to the newspaper, according to The Post’s article on Friday.

“This is cowardice, a moment of darkness that will leave democracy as a casualty. Donald Trump will celebrate this as an invitation to further intimidate The Post’s owner, Jeff Bezos (and other media owners),” he said. “History will mark a disturbing chapter of spinelessness at an institution famed for courage.”

A representative for The Washington Post declined to comment.