Washington Post editor at large quits after paper declines to endorse presidential candidate

Washington Post editor at large Robert Kagan resigned on Friday following the “Democracy Dies in Darkness” paper’s decision not to endorse a candidate in the 2024 presidential election, Fox News Digital has learned. 

Kagan, the author of “Rebellion: How Antiliberalism is Tearing America Apart — Again,” has been one of the paper’s loudest anti-Trump voices. In 2023, he penned a column, “The Trump dictatorship: How to stop it.” He has also accused Trump of being “anti-Ukraine,” and has suggested that the former president could “destroy” democracy if re-elected. 

Kagan’s shock resignation came after Post publisher and chief executive officer William Lewis announced the paper would not be endorsing a presidential candidate in 2024, nor in any future presidential race. 

THE WASHINGTON POST ANNOUNCES IT WON’T BE ENDORSING IN 2024 RACE OR ‘IN ANY FUTURE PRESIDENTIAL ELECTION’

“The Washington Post will not be making an endorsement of a presidential candidate in this election. Nor in any future presidential election. We are returning to our roots of not endorsing presidential candidates,” Lewis wrote in a post on the paper’s website.

Lewis cited the paper’s editorial board saying back in 1960, “The Washington Post has not ‘endorsed’ either candidate in the presidential campaign. That is in our tradition and accords with our action in five of the last six elections.” 

Kagan confirmed he resigned due to the decision not to endorse a candidate but declined further comment. 

“This just happened,” he said. 

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Washington Post editor at large Robert Kagan resigned on Friday following the paper’s decision not to endorse a candidate in the 2024 presidential election.

Kagan is also a senior fellow at the Brookings Institution, which bills itself as “a leading source of expert analysis and commentary on a wide range of public policy issues at the local, national, and global levels.”

The former Republican left the party and endorsed Democratic candidate Hillary Clinton prior to the 2016 election. 

The Washington Post declined comment. 

The Washington Post Guild also declared it is “deeply concerned” about the decision not to endorse a candidate. 

“According to our own reporters and Guild members, an endorsement for Harris was already drafted, and the decision not to publish was made by The Post’s owner, Jeff Bezos. We are already seeing cancelations from once loyal readers,” the Guild said. 

A source close to Washington Post leadership told Fox News Digital that Bezos was not involved in the decision. A Post spokesperson declined to comment but reiterated it was a “Washington Post decision.”

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Fox News Digital’s Scott Whitlock and Alexander Hall contributed to this report.