The owner of the Los Angeles Times instructed the paper not to make a presidential endorsement for the first time in two decades, just weeks ahead of the 2024 election, according to Semafor Tuesday.
The Los Angeles Times editorial board published a list of their electoral endorsements on Oct. 14, where it referred to the 2024 election as “the most consequential election in a generation” but made no mention of endorsing Vice President Kamala Harris. The board reportedly planned to follow tradition by endorsing the Democratic nominee for president until Dr. Patrick Soon-Shiong, the paper’s owner, told them earlier this month not to make a presidential endorsement, two people familiar with the matter told Semafor.
@latimes won’t endorse anyone for president,1st time in 20 years. LA Times is in Harris’s home state. Voters we talked to say how can you believe a candidate who has done nothing to fix America’s problems for 4 years is suddenly capable of fixing everything. #latimes pic.twitter.com/isbewPNHE9
— Elizabeth MacDonald (@LizMacDonaldFOX) October 22, 2024
The editorial board has endorsed Democratic candidates in every presidential election since it first publicly backed former President Barack Obama in the 2008 race, according to Semafor.
A Los Angeles Times spokesperson declined to comment on “internal discussions or decisions about editorials or endorsements,” according to Semafor.
Soon-Shiong, who bought the Los Angeles Times in 2018, stated they would not be making any endorsements in the 2020 Democratic primary after the board had made the decision to endorse Democratic Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren, according to Semafor. The paper endorsed President Joe Biden in the general election that year.
The paper had a history of endorsing Republican presidential candidates until they received backlash for backing former President Richard Nixon in the 1970’s, according to Semafor. From the mid-1970s until 2008, the paper declined to make presidential endorsements of candidates.
The International Brotherhood of Teamsters said in September that they would not endorse a presidential candidate after internal polling data found 56% of the union’s rank-and-file members supported Republican nominee Donald Trump. The union has historically supported Democrats and donated to left-of-center causes.
National polling has found the presidential race to be at a deadlock tie and has been considered “too close to call,” though it appears that Trump may “close the gap,” CNN senior data reporter Harry Enten said Monday. The former president led Harris in all of the major battleground states as of Friday, RealClear polling averages found.
The Los Angeles Times did not immediately respond to request to comment from the Daily Caller News Foundation.
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