US election: LA Times owner blocks newspaper from endorsing Kamala Harris. Here's why

American daily newspaper The Los Angeles Times would not be endorsing Vice President and Democratic candidate Kamala Harris for the November 5 presidential election in the United States (US).

According to reports on Sunday (Oct 27), LA Times owner Patrick Soon-Shiong had vetoed the planned endorsement, informing board members through an intermediary that the newspaper would not make a recommendation in the presidential race between Harris and Republican candidate and former presidentDonald Trump.

Following the decision, thousands of LA Times readers cancelled their subscriptions to the newspaper, and three members of the editorial board resigned, a report by The New York Times (NYT) said.

What was the motivation for the decision?

Patrick's daughter Nika revealed the reason why the newspaper refused to endorse Harris. Nika, 31, said the decision was motivated by Kamala Harris' continued support for Israel amid the Israel-Hamas war in the Gaza Strip.

Nika is a far-left political activist who displays a Palestinian flag on her profile on the social media platform X.

In a series of posts on X, Nika said last Friday (Oct25), "There is a lot of controversy and confusion over the LAT’s decision not to endorse a presidential candidate. I trust the Editorial Board’s judgment. For me, genocide is the line in the sand."

"The temptation is to speak in muffled tones about an issue the international courts have called a plausible genocide. But this moment requires opposition to crimes against humanity, ethnic cleansing, and Apartheid – as my parents did in South Africa," she added.

A report by the Daily Mail on Sunday said that Nika has no formal role at the newspaper, and has been previously accused of having undue influence at the organisation.

'This is not a vote for Donald Trump'

Nika also said in her series of posts on X that the LA Times' decision not to endorse Harris did not mean that the newspaper was backing Trump.

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"This is not a vote for Donald Trump. This is a refusal to ENDORSE a candidate that is overseeing a war on children. I’m proud of the LA Times’ decision just as I am certain there is no such thing as children of darkness. There is no such thing as human animals," the 31-year-old said.

Following her posts on the social media platform, her father Patrick told the NYT that his family made the joint decision not to endorse a presidential candidate.

(With inputs from agencies)