Why Washington Post cartoonist QUIT over this risky drawing that the paper rejected

A Washington Post cartoonist has quit after an editor at the paper refused to draw a sketch of paper owner Jeff Bezos bowing to Donald Trump.

Ann Telnaes said Friday she drew a cartoon showing a group of media executives — and Mickey Mouse, who represented Disney — bowing to Trump while offering him bags of money, including Post owner and Amazon founder Bezos.

She said she wrote that the cartoon was intended to criticize “the top tech and media billionaire executives who have done their best to curry favor with incoming President-elect Trump.”

Several executives, including Bezos, have been spotted at Trump’s Mar-a-Lago club in Florida. Bezos also donated $1 million to Trump’s inauguration and agreed to stream it on Amazon Prime, while also saying he was optimistic about Trump’s second term.

Telnaes accused them of having lucrative government contracts and working to abolish regulations.

She said that never before has a cartoon been rejected because of its inherent message, and that such a move is dangerous for the free press.

“As an editorial cartoonist, it is my job to hold powerful people and institutions accountable,” Telnaes wrote about her Substack.

‘For the first time, my editor has prevented me from doing that crucial work. That is why I have decided to leave the Post.’

She was skeptical that anyone would care much about her departure, but hoped to raise awareness.

“I doubt my decision will cause much of an uproar or be rejected because I’m just a cartoonist,” she continued.

“But I will not stop holding truth to power through my cartoons, because as they say, ‘Democracy dies in darkness.’

The Association of American Editorial Cartoonists issued a statement Saturday accusing the Post of “political cowardice” and asking other cartoonists to post Telnaes’ sketch with the hashtag #StandWithAnn in solidarity.

“Tyranny ends at the nib,” the association said. “It thrives in the dark, and the Washington Post simply closed its eyes and gave in like a drunken boxer.”

The Post’s communications director, Liza Pluto, provided The Associated Press with a statement Saturday from David Shipley, the newspaper’s editor-in-chief.

Shipley said in the statement that he disagrees with Telnaes’ “interpretation of events.”

He said he decided to remove the cartoon because the newspaper had just published a column on the same subject as the cartoon and was about to publish a new one.

“Not every editorial judgment is a reflection of a malevolent force. … The only bias was against repetition,” Shipley said.

While the Amazon founder was often seen as hostile to Trump during his first visit to the White House, Bezos expressed some excitement in December about Trump’s agenda for the coming years.

Bezos also vowed to “save” The Washington Post, which he owns, following fierce backlash and a steep decline in readership following his stunning decision in October to ban the newspaper from endorsing a presidential candidate.

Amazon will donate $1 million to the inauguration of the 78-year-old president-elect and make another in-kind contribution by streaming the inauguration on Amazon Prime.

Bezos is one of several billionaire tech companies and business leaders making major donations to Trump’s inauguration ahead of Republicans’ takeover of the White House on January 20.

Just before Christmas, Bezos was spotted walking around Mar-a-Lago on Wednesday evening enjoying dinner with President-elect Donald Trump.

The Amazon founder arrived at the Florida mansion with his fiancée Lauren Sanchez for their first meal with Trump following his recent election victory.

Footage shared on social platform X shows the couple holding hands and walking next to Trump as they greet other guests.

The tech mogul wore a navy blue suit and white shirt, while his partner Sanchez put on a leggy show in a little black dress and stiletto heels.

Bezos is one of the latest tech giants to work with Trump ahead of his presidential inauguration on January 20, 2025.

It’s a big change from Trump’s first term, when Bezos was more of a thorn in the president’s side.

When Trump first ran for president, he began threatening that Amazon and Jeff Bezos would pay a price for any anti-Trump bias.

“If I become president, oh, will they have problems? They will have such problems,” he warned.

Trump was especially saddened by Bezos’ ownership of the iconic Washington Post.

He was said to be furious about what he called the “Amazon Washington Post,” falsely claiming it had avoided “internet taxes.”

During his time in office, Trump became “obsessed” with retaliation against Bezos over the Post’s negative coverage of him.

“We get calls every hour from Washington Post reporters asking ridiculous questions,” he ranted in one go. “And I’ll tell you, this is a toy owned by Jeff Bezos, who controls Amazon. Amazon gets away with murder fiscally. He uses the Washington Post for power.”

During the Trump administration, Amazon sued the government after claiming it blocked a $10 billion cloud computing services contract with the Pentagon because of the then-president’s anger over the Post’s reporting.

The Biden administration later pursued a contract with both Amazon and Microsoft.

Throughout Trump’s presidency, Bezos has staunchly supported staff reporting and has not interfered with reporting on his own business interests or personal life.