Jeff Bezos congratulates Trump for ‘extraordinary political comeback and decisive victory’
By Liam Reilly, CNN
New York (CNN) — Jeff Bezos, the Amazon founder and chairman, congratulated Donald Trump on Wednesday for an “extraordinary political comeback and decisive victory” after the former president won re-election, wishing Trump “all success in leading and uniting the America we all love.”
“Big congratulations to our 45th and now 47th President on an extraordinary political comeback and decisive victory. No nation has bigger opportunities,” Bezos posted on X. “Wishing [Donald Trump] all success in leading and uniting the America we all love.”
Amazon chief executive Andy Jassy also congratulated Trump on his re-election.
“Congratulations to President-elect Trump on a hard-fought victory,” he wrote. “We look forward to working with you and your administration on issues important to our customers, employees, communities, and country.”
The reaction comes a week after Bezos, the owner of The Washington Post, defended his decision to withhold his newspaper’s endorsement of Vice President Kamala Harris, asserting that endorsements create the “perception of bias.”
Bezos, however, acknowledged the “appearance of conflict” in his decision, noting that his ownership of Amazon and space exploration firm Blue Origin has been a “complexifier for the Post.”
News of the non-endorsement immediately sparked backlash from Post reporters and readers alike, resulting in the resignation of nearly one-third of the paper’s editorial board and 250,000 readers canceling their subscriptions. Current and former staffers also accused the Amazon founder of engaging in “anticipatory obedience.”
For Trump, Bezos’ business holdings have long been one and the same, as evidenced by his repeated references to the so-called “Amazon Washington Post.” And Trump’s history of attacks on Bezos have not been reserved to the Post. In 2019, Amazon alleged that Trump, then in office, had abused his power to apply “improper pressure” on top Pentagon officials to bar the company from winning a military contract that would have netted the company significant windfall.
Trump has also publicly lambasted Bezos, posting a tweet in January 2019 following a National Enquirer report the billionaire had engaged in an extramarital affair, writing he was “so sorry to hear the news about Jeff Bozo being taken down by a competitor whose reporting, I understand, is far more accurate than the reporting in his lobbyist newspaper, the Amazon Washington Post.”
“Hopefully the paper will soon be placed in better & more responsible hands,” Trump wrote.
Ahead of the election Tuesday, Trump’s campaign blocked a reporter for Amazon’s election night special hosted by Brian Williams from covering the campaign’s watch party in Florida.
Tara Palmeri, a Puck’s political correspondent who was set to broadcast from the Florida event, had her credentials revoked after she published a piece about “anxiety” within the Trump campaign.
“I know I told you that I would be covering the Trump election night party from Palm Beach but turns out I have pissed off Trump’s campaign manager with my reporting and they decided to deny my credentials,” Palmeri said on the podcast “Somebody’s Gotta Win.”
On Wednesday morning, Amazon’s stock was trading up more than 3%.
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