Washington DC - The Washington Post was planning to endorse Democrat Kamala Harris for president, but billionaire Jeff Bezos reportedly stepped in to put a stop to it.

On Friday, The Washington Post shared an article informing readers that they would not be endorsing a candidate for president this election cycle, breaking with a decades-long tradition.

The article claimed the outlet's editorial page staffers wrote up a draft to endorse Harris over Republican Donald Trump, but the final decision not to publish it ultimately came from Bezos – who has been owner of the company since 2013.

Except for 1988, the newspaper has endorsed a candidate for president in every election cycle since 1976, all of which were for Democrats.

Donald Trump Trump orders Republicans to "kill" a bill aiming to protect journalists from government

It is not clear why Bezos came to the decision, fueling heavy speculation from critics. Many argue the outlet is sitting out on one of the most important US elections in history – and choosing to do so less than two weeks from Election Day.

A staff writer for The Post shared an X post noting that the same day the news was announced, Trump met with executives of Blue Origin – a space exploration company Bezos owns – leading some to believe his decision was influenced by business reasons.

A number of other present and former staffers have also criticized the decision, including Bob Woodward and Carl Bernstein, who described it as "surprising and disappointing."