WaPo editor-at-large resigns after Jeff Bezos rumored to be behind Dem-leaning outlet refusal to endorse Kamala

Robert Kagan, editor at large at the Washington Post, has reportedly resigned from his position following the paper’s decision not to Democratic presidential candidate Kamala Harris — or any candidate — for president in 2024.

CNN correspondent Hadas Gold confirmed that Kagan, whose wife is former Under Secretary of State for Political Affairs Victoria Nuland, resigned Friday following the paper’s decision.

Kagan also confirmed the decision to Semafor, with media editor Max Tani writing that opinion staff at the outlet are "furious" with the decision not to endorse and are "contemplating what action to take, ranging from resigning, quitting the board, or a statement."

One employee told Tani, "If you don't have the balls to own a newspaper, don't."

On Friday, the Washington Post announced that it would not be endorsing a candidate for president in 2024. Ahead of the late-in-the-cycle announcement, insiders speculated that the outlet’s owner, billionaire Amazon founder Jeff Bezos, was behind the delay.

The paper’s editorial board was believed to have written its endorsement of Harris, but did not receive the go-ahead to publish it, wrote former CNN media observer Oliver Darcy for his newsletter Status Wednesday.

Some insiders at the outlet speculated that Bezos did not want to alienate Trump as the former president has since tied with Harris with less than two weeks to go until the election. Staffers, Darcy wrote, were puzzled as to why the outlet was remaining silent despite millions of voters already handing in their ballots in early voting.

The Post stated in a release Friday, "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." The outlet’s editorial page had endorsed a candidate for president for each election cycle for the last 36 years.

"We recognize 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. We see it 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. We also see it 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," the outlet added.