Harris Criticizes WaPo, LA Times for 2024 Non-Endorsements in Memoir

Vice President Kamala Harris, in her new memoir 107 Days, criticizes The Washington Post and the Los Angeles Times for choosing not to endorse a presidential candidate in 2024. She points to an Oct. 14 Los Angeles Times editorial that began with the line, “It’s no exaggeration to say this may be the most consequential election in a generation,” noting there was no explicit mention of the most consequential race of all.

Harris writes that the non-endorsement reflected a “feckless posture” among powerful institutions and business leaders after former President Donald Trump was elected, and she cites statements from The Los Angeles Times owner Dr. Patrick Soon-Shiong declining to endorse Harris in 2024. The Post and LA Times both declined to endorse a presidential candidate that year, she notes.

The Los Angeles Times’ owner, Harris writes, “could not endorse Vice President Harris, based on the record of the Biden Administration and her own track record. Competence matters!” The paper’s stance followed a resignation by Mariel Garza, the editor of the LA Times editorial page, who left after the decision. The LA Times told Fox News Digital that the owner’s position reflected concerns surrounding efficacy and governance, not a rebuke of Harris personally.

The Washington Post, which historically has endorsed Democratic presidential candidates, also declined to endorse a candidate in 2024. The paper’s publisher and CEO William Lewis described the decision as “a statement in support of our readers’ ability to make up their own minds on this, the most consequential of American decisions — whom to vote for as the next president.” Before the non-endorsement decision, the Post had previously labeled Donald Trump as “dreadful” and the “worst president of modern times,” according to excerpts cited in the memoir.

The Washington Post has typically endorsed Democrats, with only one exception in recent memory: in 1988, it declined to endorse Michael Dukakis. The decision in 2024 followed similar moves by other outlets that year, including USA Today and The Minnesota Star Tribune, which also did not publish endorsements for president.

Harris also quotes Marty Baron, the former Washington Post editor, reacting to the non-endorsement in the book: “This is cowardice, a moment of darkness that will leave democracy as a casualty.” The memoir also recounts Alexandra Petri, once a humor columnist for the Post, who later wrote in The Atlantic that she endorsed Harris for president, a reflection Harris notes as an irony in the political-media landscape.

The book’s release comes as Harris’ 2024 presidential bid is described in a historically brief arc following Biden’s decision to suspend his campaign. Harris’s account ties these editorial choices to broader questions about how ownership, editorial independence, and corporate influence intersect with national politics.

Other notable passages in the memoir describe how endorsements—and the absence of them—shaped voter perception in the closing months of the campaign and how political parties and media outlets navigate accountability in a closely watched democracy. The memoir also links these developments to a wider conversation about media influence during elections and the credit or blame placed on editorial boards for political outcomes.

107 Days was released this week and documents Harris’s campaign trajectory, the internal debates within her team, and the broader political environment that followed the 2020s’ dramatic political realignments. While it presents Harris’s perspective on a transformative period in American politics, the book also contributes to ongoing national discussions about the role of major newspapers in shaping electoral choices and the responsibilities of media owners in a polarized era.

As Harris continues to weigh the implications of editorial non-endorsements, critics and supporters alike will scrutinize her portrayal of media decisions and their potential impact on democratic participation. The period that followed the 2024 election highlighted enduring tension between journalistic independence, corporate ownership, and public accountability in a rapidly shifting political landscape.