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.

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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."