Jeff Bezos congratulated Donald Trump for winning the general elections in a historic comeback. The news comes after he reportedly refrained from The Washington Post to run Kamala Harris‘ endorsement as it would have made his newspaper outlet look biased. He praised Trump and congratulated him on his big win in a social media post.
Jeff Bezos’ hearty congratulations to Trump
Bezos wrote on X, “Big congratulations to our 45th and now 47th President on an extraordinary political comeback and decisive victory.” In the post shared Wednesday morning, he added, “No nation has bigger opportunities. Wishing @realDonaldTrump all success in leading and uniting the America we all love.”
Last month, the newspaper was ready with a Harris endorsement, however, it was reportedly killed after the newspaper owner’s final decision. The Washington Post decided it would not promote any candidate as it could lead to the news outlet being viewed as biased. The outlet also reported that Bezos was behind the ultimate decision and cited four unnamed sources who had any information about the decision, as reported by The Independent.
Several of its reporters and readers denounced the newspaper. Following the decision, the newspaper reported losing 250,000 subscribers. Former Editor-in-Chief of Post Marty Baron wrote on X, “This is cowardice, with democracy as its casualty. @realdonaldtrump will see this as an invitation to further intimidate owner @jeffbezos (and others). Disturbing spinelessness at an institution famed for courage.”
Bezos’ on candidate endorsements
The Amazon CEO issued an opinion piece in his newspaper where he argued that these endorsements have little impact on the voters but do contribute to the perceptions of media being highly untrustworthy. He wrote, “Presidential endorsements do nothing to tip the scales of an election. No undecided voters in Pennsylvania are going to say, ‘I’m going with Newspaper A’s endorsement.’ None. What presidential endorsements actually do is create a perception of bias. A perception of non-independence.”
Post publisher and CEO Will Lewis revealed that The Washington Post is going ack to it history when they did not endorse any candidate. The culture of endorsement at Post began in 1976. He said, “We recognize that this will be read in a range of ways, including as a tacit endorsement of one candidate, or as a condemnation of another, or as an abdication of responsibility.’
