Washington Post cartoonist quits after paper rejects sketch of Bezos bowing to Trump
Jan 5, 2025, 10:11 AM
A Washington Post cartoonist has resigned his position after the newspaper rejected a sketch of owner Jeff Bezos bowing to President-Elect Donald Trump. (Photo: Associated Press)
(Photo: Associated Press)
A cartoonist has decided to quit her job at the Washington Post after an editor rejected her sketch of the newspaper鈥檚 owner and other media executives bowing before President-elect Donald Trump.
Ann Telnaes聽posted a message Friday on the online platform Substack saying that she drew a cartoon showing a group of media executives bowing before Trump while offering him bags of money, including Post owner and Amazon founder Jeff Bezos.
Telnaes wrote that the cartoon was intended to criticize 鈥渂illionaire tech and media chief executives who have been doing their best to curry favor with incoming President-elect Trump.鈥� Several executives, Bezos among them, have been spotted at Trump鈥檚 Forida club Mar-a-Lago. She accused them of having lucrative government contracts and working to eliminate regulations.
Telnaes said that she鈥檚 never before had a cartoon rejected because of its inherent messaging and that such a move is dangerous for a free press.
鈥淎s an editorial cartoonist, my job is to hold powerful people and institutions accountable,鈥� Telnaes wrote. 鈥淔or the first time, my editor prevented me from doing that critical job. So I have decided to leave the Post. I doubt my decision will cause much of a stir and that it will be dismissed because I鈥檓 just a cartoonist. But I will not stop holding truth to power through my cartooning, because as they say 鈥楧emocracy dies in darkness.鈥欌��
The Association of American Editorial Cartoonists issued a statement Saturday accusing the Post of 鈥減olitical cowardice鈥� and asking other cartoonists to post Telnaes鈥� sketch with the hashtag #StandWithAnn in a show of solidarity.
鈥淭yranny ends at pen point,鈥� the association said. 鈥淚t thrives in the dark, and the Washington Post simply closed its eyes and gave in like a punch-drunk boxer.鈥�
The Post鈥檚 communications director, Liza Pluto, provided The Associated Press on Saturday with a statement from David Shipley, the newspaper鈥檚 editorial page editor. Shipley said in the statement that he disagrees with Telnaes鈥� 鈥渋nterpretation of events.鈥�
He said he decided to nix the cartoon because the paper had just published a column on the same topic as the cartoon and was set to publish another.
鈥淣ot every editorial judgement is a reflection of a malign force. … The only bias was against repetition,鈥� Shipley said.
