Media

Ex-WaPo Editor: Bezos Struck 'Quid-Pro-Quo' Deal With Trump

OCT 28 2024·Updated OCT 29 2024

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The Facts

Former Washington Post editor-at-large Robert Kagan, who resigned last Friday following the paper's decision not to endorse a candidate in the US presidential election, has alleged that The Post's owner, Jeff Bezos, struck a secret deal with former Pres. Donald Trump to drop its planned endorsement of Vice Pres. Kamala Harris.
New York Post
The New York Times
Kagan claims that Trump met with executives at Blue Origin — Bezos' space exploration company — the same day as The Post's announcement and there was a "quid pro quo" agreement to end the paper's decades-long practice of endorsing a presidential candidate.
AlterNet
ConservativeHQ
Kagan added that The Post's decision to pull the Harris endorsement had "been in the works for some time." However, there was no explanation for the announcement's timing, and a spokeswoman for The Post said that ending presidential endorsements was solely a "Washington Post decision."
The Daily Beast
The New York Times
Will Lewis, The Post's publisher, has since released a statement saying the decision not to back a presidential candidate was "made entirely internally," claiming that the paper did not speak to either campaign about the decision. He described reports to the contrary as "simply incorrect."
The Washington Post
Bezos's Blue Origin — an American aerospace manufacturer — has a $3.4B contract with the federal government to build "a human landing system as NASA's second provider to deliver Artemis astronauts to the lunar surface," per NASA Administrator Bill Nelson.
NASA
Blue Origin

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The Spin

Republican narrative

The Post's decision to refrain from endorsing a presidential candidate is a step toward true journalistic neutrality. It allows readers to form their own opinions without undue influence from the paper. The allegations of a quid pro quo are baseless and ignore the publisher's stated reasons for the decision.

Breitbart

World News

Democratic narrative

The decision not to endorse a candidate is a cowardly move that undermines democracy. It's a clear example of corporate interests bowing to political pressure, potentially sacrificing journalistic integrity for financial gain. This sets a dangerous precedent for media self-censorship and could further erode press freedom.