WASHINGTON, United States (AFP) — The influential Washington Post newspaper, owned by Amazon billionaire Jeff Bezos, announced Friday it will endorse neither Democrat Kamala Harris nor Republican Donald Trump in the US presidential election.

CEO William Lewis said this was a return “to our roots of not endorsing presidential candidates.”

However, the Post editorial board has endorsed candidates for much of the last four decades — all of them Democrats — before deciding to stay on the sidelines in one of the most polarizing elections in US history.

Newspaper editorials have little of their once-powerful political heft. But the Post — whose slogan is “Democracy dies in darkness” — is one traditional media outlet that retains influence among Washington’s elite.

Trump’s campaign quickly pounced, crowing that “Harris is so bad, The Washington Post decided to never endorse another presidential candidate again.”

The Washington Post Guild, which represents unionized staff at the newspaper, said it was “deeply concerned.”

“We are already seeing cancellations from once loyal readers,” a statement said.

US media reported that a senior Post figure, editor at large Robert Kagan, had resigned in protest.

Billionaire owners

The Post’s decision follows a similar move by another of the big remaining US newspapers, the Los Angeles Times.

The billionaire owner of the Times blocked the editorial board from issuing an endorsement for Harris, according to editorial editor Mariel Garza, who resigned in response on Wednesday.

According to a report by The Washington Post on its website, Bezos likewise intervened to block the board from publishing its editorial in favor of Harris. However, a source close to the Post’s leadership told Agence France-Presse that this “is inaccurate.”

By contrast, The New York Times endorsed Harris in September, calling her “the only patriotic choice for president” and warning that “it is hard to imagine a candidate more unworthy to serve as president of the United States” than Trump.