'Right decision': 'Proud' Jeff Bezos doubles down on scuttling Washington Post endorsement

Tech billionaire Jeff Bezos isn't at all sorry he intervened to block The Washington Post from endorsing Vice President Kamala Harris, in a new interview at The New York Times Deadbook Summit, reported The Hollywood Reporter.

In fact, he says he's "proud" of the decision.

“We knew that this was going to be perceived in a very big way, these things punch above their weight. You can’t do the wrong thing because you are worried about bad PR, or whatever you want to call it," he said. “I am very aware that the Post covers all presidents very aggressively, and will continue to cover all presidents very aggressively.”

He added that he is working on a new plan to "turn around" the Post.

“I have a bunch of ideas, and I am working on that right now. We saved The Washington Post once, this will be the second time. It needs to be put back on a good footing again.“

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Bezos' justification for overruling the opinion newsroom to block political endorsements was that endorsements in general foster a lack of trust in media. Journalism experts have argued Bezos doesn't fully grasp how newspaper endorsements work; they are made by an editorial board that inherently publishes opinion content and is separate from straight news reporting. Moreover, endorsements are made as part of a process that also involves interviewing candidates and informing readers of how they responded to questions, and ending endorsements thus ends a lot of useful information readers receive about candidates in the first place.

In the previous Trump administration, Bezos was often a target of ire for Trump, particularly after Bezos criticized his anti-immigration policies. But in the same interview, Bezos expressed hope for the next term.

“I am very optimistic this time around, I am very hopeful, he seems to have a lot of energy around reducing regulation, and if I can help him do that, I am going to help them,” said Bezos. “I am very optimistic that President Trump is serious about this regulatory agenda, and I think he has a good chance at succeeding.”