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A Washington Post cartoonist announced that she resigned from the paper this week because it rejected her cartoon of Amazon founder and Post owner Jeff Bezos, who aligns with President-elect Trump.
Post editorial cartoonist Anne Thelnes wrote on her Substack page On Friday, she resigned from the outlet, accusing him of distributing the cartoon because of the billionaire’s criticism.
In the article “Why I’m Quitting the Washington Post,” Thelness said, “I’ve had editorial feedback and productive conversations—and some disagreements—about the cartoons I’ve submitted for publication, but in all that time I’ve never had a cartoon killed off – for the one at whom or at what I aimed my pen until now.”
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A Washington Post cartoonist has announced that she is resigning from the paper after her cartoon mocked Post owner Jeff Bezos. ((Photo by Karwai Tang/WireImage) ERIC BARADAT/AFP via Getty Images)
A cartoonist has shared a rough draft of an unpublished cartoon depicting Bezos and other unspecified wealthy businessmen kneeling and holding bags of money in front of the incoming president. Lying on the floor next to them was Mickey Mouse, apparently the epitome of Disney’s supposed subservience to Trump.
Thelness explained her drawing, saying, “The cartoon that got killed criticizes the billionaire tech and media executives who have gone out of their way to curry favor with President-elect Trump.”
Despite the rocky relationship between the two over the years, Bezos expressed his support for Trump after his 2024 election victory. After Election Day, Amazon’s owner told reporters that he “very optimistic” on Trump’s regulatory agenda.
Bezos recently pledged to donate $1 million to Trump’s inaugural fund. He also dined with the future president at his Mar-a-Lago residence in December.
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Tech billionaires including Bezos and Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg have backed Trump since his election day victory. (Getty Images)
Bezos also infuriated liberals, including Post employees, ahead of the election by deciding that the paper would don’t do approval of the President.
Other prominent tech moguls have met with Trump in the months since 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 quoted company as a factor behind ABC News’ recent $15 million settlement with Trump earlier this month.
In her Substack article, Thelnes went on to state her belief that the Post suppressed the cartoon because of its political content. She wrote: “To be clear, there have been times when sketches have been rejected or required changes, but never because of the point of view inherent in cartoon commentary. It’s a game-changer … and dangerous to a 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 prevented me from doing this important work. That’s why I decided to leave the Post,” she added.
However, The Washington Post’s editorial page editor, David Shipley, who admitted he made the decision to publish it himself, rejected her accusations that The Post destroyed the cartoon for political reasons, saying in a recent statement that he did so to avoid “repeat” history.
He said: “Not every editorial is a reflection of a pernicious force. I was guided by the fact that we had just published a column on the same topic as the cartoon and had already planned another column – this time a satirical one – so the publication was against repeating it.’
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Telnaes has not yet responded to Fox News Digital’s request for comment.
Fox News Digital’s Aubrey Spadey and Aislin Murphy contributed to this report.
