Donald Trump weaponizes non-endorsements from The Washington Post and Los Angeles Times

The Washington Post, Los Angeles Times and USA Today may have declined to endorse a candidate in this year’s presidential election. But former President Donald Trump doesn’t see it that way.

Speaking at a rally in North Carolina, Trump claimed Wednesday that the papers’ non-endorsements are actually a stamp of approval for his campaign.

“The Washington Post and Los Angeles Times, and all these papers. They’re not endorsing anybody. You know what they’re really saying – because they only endorse Democrats – they’re saying this Democrat’s no good. They’re no good. And they think I’m doing a great job. They just don’t want to say it,” he said.

“Washington [Post] and USA Today, congratulations. I just heard USA Today has not endorsed. They said we’re not going to endorse. That means that they think she’s no good,” he added, referencing Vice President Kamala Harris.

Leadership at all three major newspapers have tried to push the notion that their non-endorsements were meant to build back readers’ trust and address perceptions that the news media is biased, stating they would prefer that their journalists inform readers to make their own voting decisions.

The Washington Post publisher Will Lewis wrote last week in his announcement that the paper would skip an endorsement that “this will be read in a range of ways, including as a tacit endorsement of one candidate, or as a condemnation of another, or as an abdication of responsibility. That is inevitable. We don’t see it that way.”

Instead, Lewis said he saw the non-endorsement, breaking with decades of tradition, as “consistent with the values The Post has always stood for and what we hope for in a leader: character and courage in service to the American ethic, veneration for the rule of law, and respect for human freedom in all its aspects.”

The editorial boards of both the Post and the Times were set to endorse Harris before they were blocked by their papers’ respective billionaire owners, Jeff Bezos and Dr. Patrick Soon-Shiong. Following the decisions, staffers at both publications have resigned in protest.

Many current and former journalists at the newspapers worried that Trump would do exactly as he did Wednesday: weaponize the non-endorsement as a stamp of approval for himself. Others have expressed fear that part of the rationale behind the decision not to endorse was to protect the business interests of their owners in the event Trump wins re-election, though Bezos has denied a direct quid pro quo.

A Washington Post spokesperson referred CNN to Lewis’ statement from last week. A spokesperson for the Los Angeles Times did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

In the wake of the non-endorsements, more than 250,000 Post readers have canceled their subscriptions, while the Times reported more than 7,000 subscribers canceled for “editorial reasons.”