A Washington Post cartoonist announced that he has left the paper this week because it rejected his cartoon of Amazon founder and Post owner Jeff Bezos protesting President-elect Trump.
Post cartoonist Ann Telnaes wrote about him Substack page The Friday he resigned, accusing him of clicking the cartoon because it criticized the billionaire.
In the article, “Why I'm Leaving the Washington Post,” Telnaes said, “I've had editorial comments and good discussions — and some disagreements — about the cartoons I've submitted for publication, but all the while the cartoon it's been killed because of who i chose to look at my pen so far.
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A Washington Post cartoonist has announced that he is leaving the paper after it published a cartoon of him mocking post owner Jeff Bezos. ((Photo by Karwai Tang/WireImage) ERIC BARADAT/AFP via Getty Images)
The cartoonist shared a rough draft of the unreleased clip, which shows Bezos and other undisclosed wealthy businessmen scrambling and raising bags of cash for the incoming president. Crouching down next to them was Mickey Mouse, which was clearly a sign of Trump's alleged submission to Disney.
Telnaes described his image, saying, “The image that was killed criticizes the main executives of technology and the media who have been doing everything in their power to be liked by the incoming President Trump.”
Despite the strained relationship between the two over the years, Bezos expressed support for Trump after his 2024 election victory. After Election Day, the Amazon owner told reporters that “very hopeful” about the Trump administration's schedule.
Bezos recently pledged to donate $1 million to Trump's startup fund. He also had dinner with the incoming president at his Mar-a-Lago estate in December.
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Tech billionaires, including Bezos and Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg, have been supporting Trump since he won on Election Day. (Getty Images)
Bezos also angered liberals, including Post employees, before the election by deciding that the paper to do it presidential approval.
Other prominent tech moguls have met with Trump in the months following his victory, including Meta Platforms CEO Mark Zuckerberg, Alphabet CEO Sundar Pichai and Apple CEO Tim Cook.
Telnaes' reference to Disney appears to be a tricky one for the said company as a reason after ABC News' recent $15 million deal with Trump earlier this month.
In his Substack column, Telnaes went on to express his belief that the Post suppressed the cartoon because of its political content. He wrote, “Obviously, there have been instances where cartoons have been rejected or changes requested, but not because of the visuals in the cartoon description. That's game change… and it's dangerous for the free press.”
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“As an editorial cartoonist, my job is to hold powerful people and institutions accountable. For the first time, my editor stopped me from doing that important job. So I decided to leave the Post ,” he added.
However, The Washington Post's Editorial Page editor, David Shipley – who admitted he made the decision to appear – denied his allegation that The Post killed the cartoon for political reasons, saying in a statement the latter he did to avoid “repetition”. story.
He said, “It's not every editorial judgment that shows the power of harm. My decision was guided by the fact that we had just published a column on the same topic as the cartoon.” and we had already prepared another column – this one as a satire – for the publication. The only bias was against repetition.”
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Telnaes has not responded to Fox News Digital's request for comment.
Fox News Digital's Aubrie Spady and Aislin Murphy contributed to this report.