The Washington Post caused a stir last Friday when it declared it would not be endorsing a presidential candidate in 2024 — asserting the paper was “returning to [its] roots,” even while acknowledging that it had been over 50 years since it last declined to endorse in a presidential election.
This stunning announcement caused no shortage of consternation among the outlet’s already dwindling readership, prompting thousands of readers to cancel their subscriptions in outrage and The Post’s owner, Amazon founder Jeff Bezos, to issue a lengthy, navel-gazing editorial on the rationale for not just endorsing Vice President Kamala Harris (when she clearly is their preferred candidate).
YUGE: WaPo Declares It Will Not Endorse a Presidential Candidate This Election
Why the Washington Post Won’t Endorse Kamala Harris, and Why the Left Is Big Mad About It
Jeff Bezos Weighs in on WaPo Endorsement Drama: ‘Our Profession Is Now the Least Trusted of All’
But despite WaPo’s declared declination to formally endorse, behind the scenes, the outlet is surreptitiously using online advertising to promote the Harris candidacy — possibly in violation of federal election law, asserts the Trump campaign. On Friday, the campaign filed a complaint with the Federal Election Commission regarding potential illegal corporate in-kind contributions or unreported expenditures on the part of The Post.
The Trump-Vance Campaign sent out the following announcement regarding the complaint:
Trump-Vance Campaign Files FEC Complaint Against the Kamala Campaign and The Washington Post
The Trump-Vance Campaign has filed a Federal Election Commission (FEC) complaint against The Washington Post for illegal in-kind contributions to Harris for President.
According to reports, the Post is using its advertising powers to promote pro-Kamala and anti-Trump coverage to voters in the final days of the election. While they declined to endorse her publicly, they have endorsed her in the dark; so much for “Democracy Dies in Darkness.”
The mainstream media has become nothing more than pro-Kamala propaganda. The Democrat machine must be held accountable.
The full complaint, filed by the Dhillon Law Group, may be viewed here, but here are some key points it raises:
I write on behalf of Donald J. Trump for President 2024, Inc. As described below, there is reason to believe that the Washington Post violated the Federal Election Campaign Act (“FECA” or “Act”) and Federal Election Commission (“FEC” or “Commission”) regulations by making illegal corporate in-kind contributions, in violation of 52 U.S.C. § 30118, or, in the alternative, unreported last-minute independent expenditures, in violation of 52 U.S.C. § 30104(g)(1). Therefore, we call upon the Commission to immediately investigate expenditures by The Washington Post.
…
I. Factual Background
The Washington Post recently announced it would not endorse a presidential candidate, a decision the Post’s owner defended on the basis that “Presidential endorsements do nothing to tip the scales of an election.”
Yet, on October 30, 2024, the news website Semafor published a report titled “Washington Post pays to boost stories critical of Trump as subscribers flee.” The Semafor article discloses that, starting “on Monday,” October 28, 2024—just over a week before Election Day—The Washington Post has “aggressively ramped up its paid advertising campaign, boosting dozens of articles related to the election.”
As Semafor reported, this is no simple commercial marketing campaign: “While the [Post] articles about Vice President Kamala Harris were relatively neutral in tone”—if not flattering—“and focused on her … digital strategy, her policy proposals, and her chances of winning …, the articles that the Post paid to highlight about [President] Trump told a different story.” In fact, Semafor reported, the Washington Post has paid to “boost[] multiple critical articles” of President Trump through this sudden, last-minute advertising campaign.
Following on the heels of Trump’s suit against CBS over the “60 Minutes” debacle of an interview with Harris, the latest complaint signals that the Trump campaign is primed to go on offense wherever needed.
This is a developing story. RedState will provide further updates as they become available.
