Ex-WaPo editor claims Jeff Bezos colluded with Trump to kill Harris endorsement: ‘Quid-pro-quo’

A precocious ranking erstwhile editor astatine nan Washington Post is claiming that nan paper’s billionaire owner, Jeff Bezos, entered into a quid-pro-quo statement with former President Donald Trump to termination nan newspaper’s planned endorsement of Vice President Kamala Harris.

Longtime Post editor-at-large Robert Kagan, who discontinue aft nan non-endorsement connected Friday, told The Daily Beast that Trump met pinch executives astatine Blue Origin – nan abstraction institution owned and operated by Bezos – aft nan Post’s announcement, suggesting Bezos entered a woody pinch nan imaginable adjacent president.

“Trump waited to make judge that Bezos did what he said he was going to do, and past met pinch nan Blue Origin people,” he reportedly said.

“Which tells america that location was an existent woody made, meaning that Bezos communicated, aliases done his people, communicated straight pinch Trump, and they group up this quid pro quo.”

Despite nan timing of nan alleged meeting, Kagan provided nary impervious of a quid-pro-quo.

Reps for Trump, Bezos and The Washington Post did not instantly return requests for comment.

Kagan, who has been a longtime professional of Trump, said nan alleged collusion betwixt Bezos and Trump had “been successful nan useful for immoderate time” and will lead to “a batch of censorship” successful nan media arsenic billionaire fold to Trump’s demands to statement their ain pockets, nan outlet reported.

Kagan abruptly resigned from his longtime position aft CEO William Lewis announced nan insubstantial would not beryllium endorsing a statesmanlike candidate successful 2024, nor successful immoderate early races – breaking 36 years of contented astatine nan paper.

The newspaper published an article connected Friday written by 2 reporters saying that editorial page staffers had already drafted an endorsement for Harris complete Trump, and were awaiting support from Lewis and Bezos earlier it was killed.

Bezos, nan second-richest personification successful nan world pinch a nett worth valued by Bloomberg Billionaires Index at $209 cardinal arsenic of Friday, was a predominant target of Trump during his first word successful agency — mainly owed to nan Washington Post’s sum of his administration.

Some WaPo insiders besides judge nan billionaire Amazon founder, who has not spoken publically astir nan 2024 election, does not want to alienate nan Republican challenger arsenic he gains momentum to recapture nan White House adjacent month.

“This is what we person to look guardant to,” Kagan said, according to The Daily Beast.

“All Trump has to do is frighten nan firm chiefs who tally these organizations pinch existent financial loss, and they will crook nan knee.”

Friday’s determination follows the Los Angels Times, whose billionaire owner, Patrick Soon-Shiong, besides declined to rumor an endorsement, starring to a flood of resignations from its editorial board.

The determination by nan Post besides resulted into 2,000 cancelled subscriptions wrong 24 hours, which 1 staffer said was “an unusually precocious number,” Semafor reported.

Furious high-profile staffers person besides taken to societal media blasting Friday’s announcement.

Amid fierce backlash that Bezos was responsible for nan arguable decision, Lewis, nan outlets publisher, denied those claims successful a statement, stressing that he himself pulled nan plug connected nan endorsement owed to his guidance of statesmanlike endorsements.

“He was not sent, did not publication and did not opine connected immoderate draft. As Publisher, I do not judge successful statesmanlike endorsements. We are an independent newspaper and should support our readers’ expertise to dress up their ain minds,” Lewis said successful a statement, according to The Daily Beast.

But Kagan claimed this “is conscionable nan beginning” and that “all nan facts” lead to Bezos attempting to toggle shape nan longtime insubstantial into an “anti-anti-Trump editorial slant,” according to nan outlet.

“We now cognize what Bezos’ volition was, truthful we now cognize why he hired Will Lewis,” he said.

“We were nan ones who were naïve successful reasoning that location was thing other going connected here.”

Bezos, who bought nan Washington Post successful 2013, hired Lewis successful portion for his expertise to get on pinch powerful blimpish governmental figures, sources told NPR.