The Washington Put up reportedly killed a $115,000 commercial calling on President Trump to fireside DOGE chief Elon Musk — sparking renewed outcry over censorship on the Jeff Bezos-owned publication.
Advocacy group Widespread Trigger wished the anti-Musk wraparound advert, which might cowl the back and front pages, to run this week, nevertheless it was scrapped with out administration offering a cause, in line with the Hill.
Widespread Trigger, together with accomplice Southern Poverty Legislation Heart Motion Fund, had deliberate to spend $115,000 for each the wraparound advert and an analogous full-page advert contained in the paper, the outlet reported.
“We are forced to ask ourselves if the Washington Post — a pillar of investigative journalism during Watergate — is unwilling to challenge those in power?” Virginia Kase Solomón, president at Widespread Trigger, instructed the New York Put up in an announcement.
“Under Jeff Bezos’ ownership, concerns about corporate influence over the press have only grown, and this decision raises serious questions about the paper’s independence.”
A Washington Put up spokesperson directed the New York Put up to its promoting pointers, which state that the paper reserves the precise to refuse or revise any ads.
The advert featured a big photograph of Musk in entrance of the White Home with the textual content: “Who’s running this country: Donald Trump or Elon Musk?”
“The Constitution only allows for one president at a time. Call your senators and tell them it’s time Donald Trump fire Elon Musk,” the advert continued, in line with the Hill.
The Beltway broadsheet has been staggered by inner dissent since Bezos scrapped a presidential endorsement for then-Vice President Kamala Harris in October.
Final month, staff demanded a gathering with Bezos to debate points inflicting “readers to question the integrity of this institution.”
The DC-based nonprofit had despatched a duplicate of the deliberate advert to the Washington Put up’s promoting division forward of time, and an promoting gross sales consultant had appeared assured concerning the advert working — elevating no crimson flags, Solomón instructed the Hill.
Papers with the wraparound advert would have been delivered to subscribers at Congress, the Pentagon and the White Home.
However the publication — which was purchased by Amazon founder Bezos in 2013 — instructed Widespread Trigger that it needed to drop the wrap, however might preserve the one working inside.
“We said, ‘Thanks, no thanks,’ because we had a lot of questions,” Solomón instructed the Hill.
She mentioned the paper had offered pattern artwork to Widespread Trigger as a tenet for what its personal advert would seem like.
The pattern was a wrap advert that includes a big photograph of Trump giving a thumbs-up to focus on his promise to “end the electric vehicle mandate on Day 1,” funded by the American Gas & Petrochemical Producers, in line with the Hill.
“It was a thank-you Donald Trump piece of art,” Solomón mentioned.
Some social media customers began circulating the canceled advert on X, citing it because the paper’s newest capitulation to Trump.
“Democracy dies on the cutting room floor,” Pulitzer-winning journalist Mike Stanton wrote in a publish on X, twisting the WaPo’s “Democracy Dies in Darkness” tagline.
Widespread Trigger launched its “Fire Elon Musk” marketing campaign earlier this month to protest the billionaire’s rising energy as Trump’s right-hand man.
Musk runs the Division of Authorities Effectivity, a job power geared toward slashing federal spending.
DOGE has put a freeze on federal funding and known as for the federal government to “delete entire agencies.”
In the meantime, the left-leaning newspaper has suffered backlash internally and from readers because the endorsement scandal.
Greater than 250,000 readers canceled their WaPo subscriptions within the days after information broke that the editorial board had been blocked from publishing its endorsement of Harris.
Editorial board members and longtime reporters on the paper penned scathing resignation letters.
