Why Jeff Bezos Is Facing Backlash Over Trump Winning The Election

Amazon founder Jeff Bezos drew ire online after sharing a post to X, formerly Twitter, congratulating President-elect Donald Trump on his election victory — less than two weeks after blocking a Washington Post endorsement of Democratic nominee Kamala Harris. "Big congratulations to our 45th and now 47th President on an extraordinary political comeback and decisive victory," Bezos wrote. "No nation has bigger opportunities. Wishing @realDonaldTrump all success in leading and uniting the America we all love."

The post drew criticism from users who felt it suggested Bezos was biased and that drove his decision to end The Washington Post's tradition of endorsing a presidential candidate — which it has done since 1976.

"Thank you for this reminder to cancel my Amazon Prime membership," replied one user. "I guess the Washington Post IS allowed to endorse," wrote another. In a quote tweet, one X user pointed out that Bezos had taken to the site to express congratulations for Trump's 2016 victory, too, but not bothered to congratulate President Joe Biden, writing, "Jeff tweeted congratulations to Trump in 2016 and 2024. No tweet exists for Biden in 2020. He didn't kill the WaPo endorsement of Harris because he wanted to be non-partisan, he did it because he is a partisan." However, Bezos the billionaire did congratulate Biden with a 2020 Instagram post. Still, the post has sparked outrage in the wake of the last-minute decision to cancel The Washington Post's endorsement.

The Washington Post publisher Will Lewis announced on October 25, 2024, that the newspaper would not publish an endorsement for the presidential race between Vice President Kamala Harris and President-elect Donald Trump. Owner Jeff Bezos followed the announcement up with an opinion piece, claiming there was no quid pro quo motivating the change in direction, though Bezo's space company Blue Origin has several government contracts with NASA. "What presidential endorsements actually do is create a perception of bias. A perception of non-independence," he wrote (via CNN). "Ending them is a principled decision, and it's the right one."

The decision sparked an outcry from the newspaper's readers, with more than 250,000 canceling their subscriptions in response to the changed policy. Several staff members saw the decision as grounds for resignation.

In an interview with CNN, former columnist Robert Kagan explained why Bezos' decision prompted him to leave the paper. "We are in fact bending the knee to Donald Trump because we're afraid of what he will do," he said (via NPR).