The Los Angeles Times made news of its own last fall when owner Patrick Soon-Shiong, MD, announced the outlet would not endorse a candidate in the 2024 election. USA Today and The Washington Post soon followed suit, and the move did not sit well with Democrat nominee Kamala Harris who was clearly expecting the support.
Dr. Soon-Shiong’s decision also drew ire from LA Times staffers who resigned in protest, but he stands by the decision. On Thursday’s show, he joined Megyn to discuss why he blocked the editorial board’s planned endorsement of Harris and why he remains “very comfortable” with that call today.
No Endorsement
Reeling from the rejection, Harris called the lack of support from her home state paper “disappointing” and suggested Dr. Soon-Shiong’s wealth had something to do with it. “It’s billionaires in Donald Trump’s club,” she said in an interview with The Breakfast Club. “That’s who’s in his club. That’s who he hangs out with. That’s who he cares about.”
Harris seemed to forget the fact that her campaign, which raked in more than $1 billion, was funded by several billionaires. In fact, a Forbes analysis from October 2024 found she had “more billionaires backing her than Trump.”
Regardless, the doctor said the former vice president was incorrect in her assessment. “I made the decision, yes, we shouldn’t endorse her because I didn’t believe, frankly, that she’d be competent as the president of the United States,” he said. “There were many, many, many decisions made during the Biden administration, which she was part of, that didn’t make sense.”
“It had nothing to do with me and any other billionaires,” he added. “But that’s besides the point.”
The Fallout
As Dr. Soon-Shiong explained, the members of the paper’s editorial board who were planning to back Harris “had never met her” and yet “had apparently a pre-drafted version of ‘the most consequential vice president in the history of the United States.'”
While he said he did not meet with Harris as part of an “editorial review,” he was familiar with her. “I’d known her when she was in California… so I watched during the Biden administration her actions or inaction, and didn’t believe that [she was capable],” he noted.
He admitted the response both from staff and subscribers was “pretty bad,” but he felt it was necessary to stand by the decision. “In order to lead, you need to lead and you need, truly, to have courage of your convictions. And that was our conviction,” Dr. Soon-Shiong said. “So, that decision was made, and I think I’m very comfortable still with that decision.”
You can check out Megyn’s full interview with Dr. Soon-Shiong by tuning in to episode 1,168 on YouTube, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you like to listen. And don’t forget that you can catch The Megyn Kelly Show live on SiriusXM’s Triumph (channel 111) weekdays from 12pm to 2pm ET.