'Submission': How Jeff Bezos has avoided Trump's wrath

28 October 2024

Amazon CEO and Washington Post owner Jeff Bezos has been drawing widespread criticism following reports that he blocked the publication's editorial board from publishing an endorsement of Democratic presidential nominee Kamala Harris.

Bezos reportedly made the decision not because he is pro-Donald Trump, but because he feared retaliation if he published a Harris endorsement and Trump won the election. And Bezos, as he saw it, was protecting his business interests.

In an article published by the conservative website The Bulwark on October 28, Never Trumper Jonathan V. Last describes Bezos' decision as a "catastrophic failure of the rule of law."

"What we witnessed on Friday was not a case of censorship or a failure of the media," Last argues. "It had nothing to do with journalism or the Washington Post. It was something much, much more consequential. It was about oligarchy, the rule of law, and the failure of the democratic order."

Bezos, Last laments, was obviously trying to avoid being targeted for revenge by a possible second Trump Administration.

"When Bezos decreed that the newspaper he owned could not endorse Trump' opponent," Last explains, "it was a transparent act of submission born of an intuitive understanding of the differences between the candidates. Bezos understood that if he antagonized Kamala Harris and Harris became president, he would face no consequences. A Harris Administration would not target his businesses because the Harris Administration would — like all presidential administrations not headed by Trump — adhere to the rule of law."

Last continues, "Bezos likewise understood that the inverse was not true. If he continued to antagonize Trump and Trump became president, his businesses very much would be targeted. So bending the knee to Trump was the smart play. All upside, no downside."

According to Last, Bezos' "submission" to Trump is a warning to business owners that they will be targeted for revenge if they openly criticize him.

"What Trump understood was that Bezos' submission would be of limited use if it was kept quiet," Last argues. "Because the point of dominating Bezos wasn't just to dominate Bezos. It was to send a message to every other businessman, entrepreneur, and corporation in America: that these are the rules of the game. If you are nice to Trump, the government will be nice to you. If you criticize Trump, the government will be used against you."

Jonathan V. Last's full article for The Bulwark is available at this link.

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