A Washington Post cartoonist announced his resignation this week after a cartoon of Amazon founder and Post owner Jeff Bezos pitted against President-elect Trump was rejected.
Cartoonist Ann Telnaes wrote on her Substack page on Friday that she was resigning from the shop, accusing it of drawing the cartoon because it criticized the billionaire.
In the article, “Why I'm Leaving The Washington Post,” Telnaes said, “I've had editorial feedback and productive discussions—and some dissent—about cartoons I've submitted for publication, but in all that time I've never had a cartoon killed by anyone or anything I chose.” focus on it so far.”
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A Washington Post cartoonist has announced he is leaving the paper after he mocked Post owner Jeff Bezos. ((Photo by Karwai Tang/WireImage) ERIC BARADAT/AFP via Getty Images)
The cartoonist shared a rough draft of the unpublished cartoon, which shows Bezos and other unnamed wealthy businessmen flexing and holding up bags of cash for the incoming president. Kneeling next to them was Mickey Mouse, apparently representing Disney's supposed Trump allegiance.
Telnaes described his cartoon, saying, “The cartoon was executed criticizing the big tech executives and the media who were doing everything in their power to favor President-elect Trump.”
Despite the strained relationship between the two over the years, Bezos voiced his support for Trump following his 2024 election win. After Election Day, the Amazon owner told reporters he was “very optimistic” about Trump's regulatory agenda.
Bezos recently pledged to donate $1 million to Trump's inauguration fund. He also had dinner with the incoming president at his Mar-a-Lago resort in December.
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Tech billionaires, including Bezos and Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg, have been supporting Trump since his Election Day victory. (Getty Images)
Bezos also angered liberals, including Postal workers, before the election by deciding that the paper would not carry the president's endorsement.
Other prominent tech giants 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 dig at the company identified as the cause of ABC News' recent $15 million settlement with Trump earlier this month.
In his Substack piece, Telnaes went on to state his belief that the Post deleted the cartoon because of its political point. He wrote, “To be clear, there have been times when drawings have been rejected or revisions requested, but not because of the opinion found in the cartoons. That's a game changer…and a danger to a free press.”
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“As an editorial cartoonist, my job is to make powerful people and institutions accountable. For the first time, my editor prevented me from doing that important job. So I decided to leave the Post,” he added.
However, the editor of the Washington Post Editorial Page David Shipley – who admitted that he made the decision to defend himself – denied his accusation that The Post killed the cartoon for political reasons, in a recent statement that he did it to avoid “repeating” the story.
He said, “Not all editorial decisions reflect negative energy. My decision was guided by the fact that we had just published a column on the same topic as the cartoon and had edited another column – this is satire – 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.
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