On Wednesday, Los Angeles Times editorials editor Mariel Garza resigned from her position because her boss did not cave to her demands to endorse Democrat presidential nominee Kamala Harris.
While the editorial board of the Los Angeles Times — Harris’ hometown newspaper — planned to endorse Harris, the paper’s owner blocked the endorsement.
Citing two people familiar with the situation, Semafor reported that “executive editor Terry Tang told editorial board staff earlier this month that the paper would not be endorsing a candidate in the presidential election this cycle, a decision that came from the paper’s owner Dr. Patrick Soon-Shiong, a doctor who made his fortune in the healthcare industry.”
There was no public explanation for the decision, though the text at the bottom of the Los Angeles Times endorsement page stated that “the editorial board endorses selectively, choosing the most consequential races in which to make recommendations.”
This news was especially shocking, as the Los Angeles Times has consistently endorsed Democrats over the past few elections, including President Joe Biden, twice-failed presidential candidate Hillary Clinton, and former President Barack Obama.
The super left-wing Los Angeles Times, which is the biggest newspaper in Kamala Harris's home state of California, has decided NOT to endorse her. They have previously endorsed Obama, Clinton, and even Biden
Something big is happening nationwide, and it's NOT good for Kamala. pic.twitter.com/VV1MO8oazy
— George (@BehizyTweets) October 22, 2024
Speaking with the Columbia Journalism Review, Mariel Garza announced that she would be resigning in protest of the newspaper’s refusal to endorse Harris.
“I am resigning because I want to make it clear that I am not okay with us being silent,” Garza complained. “In dangerous times, honest people need to stand up. This is how I’m standing up.”
She went on to admit that the paper was obviously a leftist outlet with leftist readers, so the endorsement would have literally had zero effect, but she still wanted them to get political — which is not surprising, as Democrats have transformed a formerly free and independent press into nothing more than a bunch of propaganda outlets.
“I didn’t think we were going to change our readers’ minds—our readers, for the most part, are Harris supporters,” Garza said. “We’re a very liberal paper. I didn’t think we were going to change the outcome of the election in California.”
“But two things concern me: This is a point in time where you speak your conscience no matter what. And an endorsement was the logical next step after a series of editorials we’ve been writing about how dangerous Trump is to democracy, about his unfitness to be president, about his threats to jail his enemies. We have made the case in editorial after editorial that he shouldn’t be reelected,” she added.
Meanwhile, the Los Angeles Times’ owner has explained in a post on X that the decision not to endorse a candidate came in response to the editorial board’s refusal to even pretend to be impartial or consider both sides of the argument.
“So many comments about the @latimes Editorial Board not providing a Presidential endorsement this year. Let me clarify how this decision came about,” he wrote. “The Editorial Board was provided the opportunity to draft a factual analysis of all the POSITIVE AND NEGATIVE policies by EACH candidate during their tenures at the White House, and how these policies affected the nation. In addition, the Board was asked to provide their understanding of the policies and plans enunciated by the candidates during this campaign and its potential effect on the nation in the next four years. In this way, with this clear and non-partisan information side-by-side, our readers could decide who would be worthy of being President for the next four years.”
He concluded: “Instead of adopting this path as suggested, the Editorial Board chose to remain silent and I accepted their decision.”
Former President Donald Trump’s campaign has celebrated the non-endorsement as a political victory — just as they did when the Teamsters Union refused to endorse Harris.
“In Kamala’s own home state, the Los Angeles Times—the state’s largest newspaper—has declined to endorse the Harris-Walz ticket, despite endorsing the Democrat nominees in every election for decades,” the Trump campaign said in a statement. “Even her fellow Californians know she’s not up for the job. The Times previously endorsed Kamala in her 2010 and 2014 races for California attorney general, as well as her 2016 race for US Senate—but not this time.”
