Washington Post owner Jeff Bezos defended his decision to overhaul the newspaper’s opinion page, insisting there’s nothing “fascist” about advocating for “personal liberties and free markets.”
The billionaire Amazon founder faced harsh backlash over last week’s announcement that the Beltway broadsheet’s opinion pages will better reflect American values like “free markets and personal liberties” — a move that led to the resignation of editorial page editor David Shipley.
One X user wrote over the weekend: “So you’re going fascist too Jeff? Bend the knee,” referring to Bezos’ efforts to cozy up to President Trump.
Bezos replied: “There is nothing fascist about personal liberties and free markets.”
Bezos also responded to an X user who wrote that the e-commerce company he founded has been the beneficiary of tax breaks and government subsidies.
“We do NOT have free markets today and have not had them for a very long time. In general, corporate subsidies and special interest tax breaks are great examples of where government interferes with free markets,” Bezos wrote on Sunday.
Bezos also replied to an X user who posted a quote from economist Milton Friedman, who said: “Underlying most arguments against the free market is a lack of belief in freedom itself.”
“Yes they are very much intertwined. This is under appreciated but very true. Thank you,” Bezos wrote.
When another X user remarked that “free markets and personal liberties are what defines America,” Bezos replied: “To a very large degree this is true. These principles are critical and worth defending and in need of defense.”
Bezos wrote in a subsequent post that free markets and personal liberties “are foundational enduring principles that have served this country well for a long time.”
“They are often under assault,” the mogul wrote.
When asked by an X user if the Washington Post opinion page would take aim at tariffs, Bezos replied:
“Yes, tariffs is a very reasonable topic for the new opinion pages to explore.”
Bezos added that the newspaper would also opine on “critical issues around reciprocity, national security, and the damaging and distorting effects if tariffs are used to pick winners and losers (exempting particular products or supply chain ‘ingredients’ if the beneficiary has political power, for example).”
Bezos’ decision last week resulted in a reported 75,000 people canceling their subscriptions, according to National Public Radio.
It was the second time in recent months that readers have dropped the paper over an editorial decision by Bezos.
Weeks before the Nov. 5 election, Bezos blocked his editorial board from issuing an endorsement of the Democratic nominee, then-Vice President Kamala Harris, who went on to lose to former President Donald Trump.
Since Trump’s re-election, Bezos has donated money to his inaugural fund and had dinner with the president at his Mar-a-Lago estate.
Bezos, who has had a contentious relationship with Trump dating back to the president’s first term in office, is eager to turn a new page — prompting critics to accuse him of sacrificing the Washington Post’s journalistic independence in order to advance his business interests.
Bezos has denied the claim.
