Former Rep. Liz Cheney (R-Wyo.) revealed on Saturday that she’s cancelled her subscription to The Washington Post following the newspaper’s decision not to endorse a candidate in this year’s presidential election.
Cheney, in a talk with The New Yorker editor David Remnick at The New Yorker Festival on Saturday, emphasized the “fear” tied to the decision before going after the newspaper’s billionaire owner, Amazon founder Jeff Bezos.
“When you have Jeff Bezos apparently afraid to issue an endorsement for the only candidate in the race who’s a stable responsible adult because he fears Donald Trump, that tells you why we have to work so hard to make sure that Donald Trump isn’t elected,” said the Republican per The Hollywood Reporter.
She continued, “And I think also, why we ought to not forget what has happened, forget who’s taken brave and courageous stands. And I canceled my subscription to The Washington Post, just saying.”
The condemnation from Cheney, a harsh Trump critic who has been stumping for Kamala Harris on the campaign trail, comes after the Post’s editorial board reportedly drafted an endorsement of the vice president before Bezos “reviewed” it and ultimately decided against its publication.
Cheney joins a number of major figures in the media world in questioning the decision including famed journalists Bob Woodward and Carl Bernstein, whose reporting on the Watergate scandal for the Post led to Richard Nixon’s resignation, as well as the newspaper’s former Executive Editor Marty Baron.
The move also led to several in-house condemnations along with Robert Kagan’s resignation as the Post’s editor at large.
The Post’s controversial publisher and CEO William Lewis, in a note to readers Friday, wrote that the newspaper was returning to its “roots.” It regularly began endorsing presidential candidates beginning in 1976 with Democrat Jimmy Carter, according to the Post’s own reporting on the non-endorsement.
Many current and former staffers are reportedly furious over the move, suspecting it was made in line with Bezos’ business interests, CNN reported Saturday.
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Baron, in an interview with CNN’s Michael Smerconish, described the decision as “cowardice.”
“To declare a moment of high principle, only 11 days before the election that is just highly suspect that is just not to be believed that this was a matter of principle at this point,” he said.
Lewis, in a statement, told CNN that reporting on Bezos’ role in the decision has been “inaccurate.”
“He was not sent, did not read and did not opine on any draft. As Publisher, I do not believe in presidential endorsements. We are an independent newspaper and should support our readers’ ability to make up their own minds,” Lewis said.
