Former Washington Post editor-in-chief Marty Baron has blasted his former boss Jeff Bezos for “betraying the principles he professed” after the newspaper announced it would not support a candidate in the 2024 presidential election.

“Jeff Bezos showed no courage here,” Baron said in an interview on Boston Public Radio on Monday.

“I really think this is a serious mistake and it has done tremendous damage to the Washington Post’s brand… I worry about the damage it is doing to the Post’s brand and reputation and that people today the day may have greater suspicions…,” he added.

Post announced this on Friday that it would not provide an endorsement in the upcoming presidential election or any future ones, in what CEO and publisher Will Lewis said was a “return to our roots.” The Post had supported a Democrat for president in every election since 1976, except when it skipped one in 1988.

BEFORE THE NON-APPROVAL DECISION, WASHINGTON POST CALLED TRUMP ‘TERRIBLE’ AND ‘WORST PRESIDENT OF MODERN AGE’

Marty Baron, editor-in-chief of the Washington Post, blasted his former newspaper for its decision to withhold its endorsement. (AP Photo/Andrew Harnik, file) (AP Photo/Andrew Harnik)

The decision immediately caused an uproar in the newspaper ‘Democracy Dies in Darkness’. At least two Post staff members have resigned from the newspaper, while two other employees left the newsroom while remaining employed. Nineteen Post columnists signed a letter condemning the decision, specifically calling for Trump to be identified as a threat to the rule of law and the country. Subscribers have reportedly canceled by the hundreds of thousands.

And the newspaper’s union raised concerns that management was interfering with independent journalism amid reports that Bezos was forcing the move in light of Trump’s possible return to power. The newspaper reportedly had an endorsement of Harris lined up before calling for it to be overturned.

Baron, who retired from the Post in 2021 after nearly a decade at the paper, denounced the move on X Friday in a message widely shared by Post columnists and reporters.

“This is cowardice, with democracy as the victim,” he wrote. “@realdonaldtrump will see this as an invitation to further intimidate owner @jeffbezos (and others). Troubling spinelessness at an institution famed for its courage.”

WASHINGTON POST SKIPS WHITE HOUSE APPROVAL, BUT LIBERAL TILT IS STILL CLEAR IN SENATE AND HOUSE KNOBS

Baron blamed Bezos for the call during his interview with Boston Public Radio, saying he was disappointed in the billionaire Amazon founder, who owns the Post, for giving in “to pressure from Donald Trump.”

“It’s disappointing because the whole time there he resisted this kind of pressure and stood up for us,” Baron said of Bezos. “Trump tried to undermine Amazon’s business in multiple ways, yet he stood with us. Now I’m just disappointed to see that he’s not willing to follow through on those principles.”

Baron said the decision is “a betrayal of the principles he (Bezos) professed and practiced when I was editor of the Washington Post.”

Billionaire Jeff Bezos bought the Washington Post in 2013.

The move is surprising given that Bezos “has shown tremendous backbone and integrity in defending our work and not yielding to pressure” when Baron worked alongside him, he said, adding that he was “tremendously grateful for the support he provided us during that period’. time.

Baron said he believed it was Trump’s escalating attacks on “perceived political enemies” that pressured the WaPo owner to change course.

“I think Trump has only become more virulent in his attacks… he has always seen Bezos as an enemy because of his ownership of the Washington Post and his distaste for Washington Post reporting.”

“I think this decision on the president’s endorsement is a sign of weakness and I hope it does not lead to other signs of weakness,” he added.

In an op-ed Monday evening, Bezos defended the newspaper’s “principled decision” not to endorse a presidential candidate, citing a Gallup poll showing Americans are losing confidence in the media.

“Our profession is now the least trusted of all. Something we are doing is clearly not working,” he wrote.

Billionaire Jeff Bezos bought the Washington Post in 2013. (Photo by Brent N. Clarke/Invision/AP)

“We have to be accurate, and we have to be confident that we are accurate. It is a bitter pill to swallow, but we are falling short on the second requirement,” he continued. “Most people believe the media is biased. Anyone who does not see this pays little attention to reality, and those who fight reality lose. The reality is an undefeated champion. It would be easy to blame others for our long and continuing fall in the world. credibility (and therefore a decrease in impact), but a victim mentality will not help. Complaining is not a strategy. We must work harder to control what we can control to increase our credibility.

The billionaire Amazon founder, who bought The Post in 2013, insisted that the newspapers’ endorsements “do nothing to sway the outcome of the election” but instead “create a perception of bias.” He doubled down on The Post’s decision to end presidential endorsements, saying it is a “decision of principle, and the right one.”

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The Washington Post did not immediately return Fox News Digital’s request for comment.

David Rutz and Joseph A. Wulfsohn of Fox News contributed to this report.