'Intimidation works': Business leaders fear retaliation if Trump wins

With a reported net worth of more than $204 billion (according to Forbes), Amazon CEO and Washington Post owner Jeff Bezos is among the richest men in the world.

Bezos has been drawing a great deal of criticism in response to reports that he blocked an endorsement of Democratic presidential nominee Kamala Harris that the Post's editorial board was planning to publish. The Bulwark's Jonathan V. Last believes that Bezos killed the endorsement because he fears the possibility of retaliation from former President Donald Trump if he wins the election on November 5.

But Bezos, reportedly, isn't the only business leader who is worried about being targeted for revenge if Trump returns to the White House.

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In an article published by the Post on October 28, reporters Jeff Stein, Jacqueline Alemany and Josh Dawsey stress that some business leaders are toning down their criticism of Trump — as they don't want to risk being targeted for revenge.

"With the White House appearing increasingly up for grabs, and especially as polls have tightened, numerous billionaires and other leading executives have taken steps, in recent months, to stay out of the race — even if they had criticized Trump after the Capitol insurrection of January 6, 2021, calling his encouragement of the riot a threat to American democracy," the Post reporters explain. "Others who previously backed Democrats have stayed silent this election, which some critics and Trump supporters alike have interpreted as a peace offering to the GOP presidential nominee."

Brian Riedl, a senior fellow at the Manhattan Institute, finds it disturbing that Trump is able to "intimidate" business leaders.

Riedl told the Post, "Trump has had no issue calling out political enemies by name and threatening to use the force of government for retribution, and apparently, that is intimidating a lot of wealthy targets. It is a very scary sign that government intimidation works."

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Former UBS Chairman Robert Wolf, once an economic adviser to former President Barack Obama, said that some business leaders are "nervous" about what Trump will do if he returns to the White House.

Wolf told the Post, "Public company CEOs want to have it both ways: They want to be viewed as the thought leaders of the country, but when it comes to this highly contentious election, they want to hide behind their titles. Many are nervous that if Trump wins, he's going to respond or even retaliate."

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Read the full Washington Post article at this link (subscription required).