LA Times Owner: It Was A ‘Mistake’ To Endorse Karen Bass

Dr. Patrick Soon-Shiong, the owner of The Los Angeles Times, said during an interview this week that it was a “mistake” for the newspaper to have endorsed Karen Bass to be the city’s mayor.

Soon-Shiong made the remarks during an interview with 2Way’s Sean Spicer following the severe backlash that Bass has faced over the last week in the wake of the wildfires that erupted, causing $50+ billion in damage.

Spicer asked Soon-Shiong how much blame should be placed on Bass and Governor Gavin Newsom as the catastrophic fires continue to rage.

“Well, first of all, we’ll accept some blame,” he said. “So at the L.A. Times, we endorsed Karen Bass. I think right now in front, that’s a mistake and we admit that.”

“So I thought it was very early, important early on for me to come out,” he continued.

WATCH:

LA Times owner @DrPatSoonShiong says it was a “mistake” for his paper to endorse Karen Bass for Mayor in 2022.

“Competence matters,” he says.pic.twitter.com/0NJeZgXekD

— KanekoaTheGreat (@KanekoaTheGreat) January 13, 2025

In a series of posts on X, Soon-Shiong repeatedly hammered home the issue of competency.

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“Maybe the lesson we learned out of this catastrophe in California is to now vote not based on left or right or D versus R but perhaps based on competent or no experience in operating a job!!” he wrote. “We have to elect based on competence…yes competence matters.”

Maybe the lesson we learned out of this catastrophe in California is to now vote not based on left or right or D versus R but perhaps based on competent or no experience in operating a job !! We have to elect based on competence…yes competence matters.

— Dr. Pat Soon-Shiong (@DrPatSoonShiong) January 10, 2025