A Washington Post cartoonist announced this week that he was leaving the paper after the paper rejected a cartoon of Amazon founder and Washington Post owner Jeff Bezos bowing down to President-elect Trump.
Editorial Cartoonist Anne Ternes wrote on her Substack page on Friday that she was resigning from the media, criticizing the popularity of her cartoons because they criticized wealthy people.
In the article “Why I'm Leaving the Washington Post,'' Mr. Ternaise said: Manga was killed because of who or what I chose to point my pen at. Until now. “
The cartoonist released a draft of an unpublished comic depicting Bezos and other unspecified wealthy businessmen holding up bags of money to the next president. Mickey Mouse, lying prostrate on the floor next to them, was clearly a sign of Disney's supposed subordination to Trump.
Ternaes said of his drawing: “The caricatures are critical of the billionaire tech and media chiefs who have done everything in their power to curry favor with President-elect Trump.'' ” he explained.
Despite a long-standing rocky relationship between the two, Bezos has expressed support for Trump after his 2024 presidential election victory. Following Election Day, Amazon's owner told reporters he was “very optimistic” about President Trump's regulatory policies.
Bezos recently pledged to donate $1 million to President Trump's inaugural fund. He also had dinner with the president-elect at his Mar-a-Lago residence in December.
Bezos also infuriated liberals, including postal workers, with the newspaper's decision not to endorse the president just before the election.
Other prominent tech figures include Meta Platforms CEO Mark Zuckerberg, Alphabet CEO Sundar Pichai, and Apple CEO Tim Cook. Trump's biggest names met with President Trump in the months after his victory.
Telnes' reference to Disney appears to be a criticism of the company, which ABC News cited as a factor in its $15 million settlement with Trump earlier this month.
In a post for Substack, Ternes continued to assert his belief that the Post trashed the comic for political reasons. She writes: “To be clear, there have been instances where sketches have been rejected or revisions requested, but never because of the unique perspective of comic book commentary. This is a game changer and a great addition to press freedom. is dangerous.”
“My job as an editorial cartoonist is to hold people and institutions in power accountable. For the first time, an editor prevented me from doing that important work. So I decided to quit my post. “I decided to do that,” she added.
However, David Shipley, editor of the Washington Post's editorial page, acknowledged that he made the decision to publish the cartoon himself, but criticized her accusation that the paper removed the cartoon for political reasons. , and said in a recent statement that it was to avoid “repetition” of the paper. story.
“Not all editorial decisions reflect malevolent forces,” he said. “My decision was based on the fact that I had just published a column on the same topic as the cartoon, and had already published another column (this one called satire). The only bias was against repetition.
Ternes has not yet responded to Fox News Digital's request for comment.
