At a rally in North Carolina Wednesday, former President Donald Trump said the decision by major newspapers not to endorse a candidate in the presidential race was an endorsement for him, The Hill reported.
"The Washington Post and Los Angeles Times and all these papers — they are not endorsing anybody. You know what they're really saying? Because they only endorse Democrats, they're saying this Democrat is no good," Trump told a cheering crowd.
The editorial boards of the Los Angeles Times and the Post had written editorials endorsing Vice President Kamala Harris before their owners stepped in to squash the endorsements. Gannett also announced its newspapers will not publish endorsements for president.
"They're no good. And they think I'm doing a great job. They just don't want to say it — Washington and USA Today," Trump said. "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."
The decision by the LA Times and the Post has led to turmoil at both newspapers. Several journalists resigned from both papers, while the Post has lost 250,000 subscribers, 10% of its subscription base since the announcement that it would not endorse a presidential candidate.
The Post has been doing presidential endorsements since 1976. The Democrat candidate has received the paper's endorsement in every election except for 1988, when it declined to endorse either candidate.
In an opinion piece in the Post, owner Jeff Bezos defended the decision to not run an endorsement.
"Most people believe the media is biased," Bezos wrote. "Anyone who doesn't see this is paying scant attention to reality, and those who fight reality lose.
"Reality is an undefeated champion. It would be easy to blame others for our long and continuing fall in credibility (and, therefore, decline 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," he wrote.