2 More LA Times Editorial Writers Quit Due to Owner Approval Block “Chickens–t” by Kamala Harris | Exclusive

The Los Angeles Times has lost two more longtime editors, the latest in a growing exodus to protest owner Patrick Soon-Shiong’s interference with the paper’s planned endorsement of Kamala Harris, TheWrap can exclusively report.

On Thursday, editor Karin Klein and Pulitzer Prize winner Robert Greene quit; their exits come just a day after editorial writer Mariel Garza resigned in protest on Wednesday.

Greene has yet to speak publicly about his exit, but in a statement posted on a private forum that was later shared with TheWrap, Klein laid out his reasons for quitting.

Channeling Harris’ “we’re not going back” campaign slogan, Klein called Soon-Shiong a “chicken…” who threw the editorial team “under the bus” and essentially argued that the decision to withhold approval of was itself an endorsement of sorts for Harris’s opponent, Donald Trump.

Soon-Shiong, Klein wrote, owns “the right to intervene in the editorials; this is the only place where he can do it ethically.” But by shooting down this particular editorial, she said he actually created one of his own. “A wordless, mock-invisible one that unfairly implies that (Harris) has serious flaws that somehow put her on Donald Trump’s level.”

In fact, she argued, the moment itself can only be seen as a direct attack on the Democratic nominee “hitting at the very moment when he can’t afford punches.”

Klein also specifically revealed Soon-Shiong’s cover-up statement on Wednesday night, which attempted to blame the debacle on the editorial board itself, while confirming that it had indeed blocked approval.

On the social media site formerly known as Twitter, Soon-Shiong wrote that “the editorial board had the opportunity to write a factual analysis of all the positive and negative policies of each candidate during his tenure in the White House and how those policies affected the nation.”

“In addition, the board was asked to provide its understanding of the policies and plans articulated by the candidates during this campaign and their potential effect on the nation over the next four years. That way, with this clear, nonpartisan information at their side, our readers could decide who would be worthy of being president for the next four years.”

“Instead of taking this path as suggested, the editorial team chose to remain silent and I accepted their decision. Please vote,” Soon-Shiong’s statement concluded.

Immediately afterward, in a statement provided to TheWrap, Garza bluntly said, “We did an endorsement and we weren’t allowed to write one.”

For her part, Klein wrote that her decision to quit was made “simple and easy” by Soon-Shiong’s statement, in part because forcing the editorial board to evoke positive things about Trump “works just like any other intended lie to make it show. like something better than mud.”

“It was not the council that chose to be silent. It blocked our voice. He can force his decisions down everyone’s throats, but at least own them,” she added.

Read Klein’s full statement below:

“I announced to the LA Times today because of the doubt (very polite term for how fried I feel) about not endorsing Kamala Harris. And I’m not going back.”

“I respect the owner’s right to intervene in editorials; this is an ethical place to do so. What blows my mind is that a decision against an editorial at this point is actually a decision to make an editorial – one without words, one invisible to create, that unfairly implies that it has serious flaws that somehow put it on its level Donald. trump card And this hits just when she can’t afford hits. Patrick Soon-Shiong does the opposite of the neutrality he said he was looking for. Sufficient. Made.”

“The decision to step down was made plain and simple when he posted on X yesterday about his suggestion that the board create an analysis of the positives and negatives of each candidate and let the voters make their own decisions. (He did, but the editors never heard about it.) And that positive stuff about Trump? “Nice hair?” It works as well as any other lie to make him look better than scum.”

“The news side does an excellent job of neutral analysis. This is not an editorial.”

“Then the owner wrote the annoying words that ‘the editorial board has chosen to remain silent.’ Oh fuck those chickens… try throwing the columnists under the bus. It was not the council that chose to remain silent. It blocked our voice. He can force his decisions down everyone’s throats, but at least own them.”