Angry Liberals Rage Over Washington Post Layoffs, Lash Out at ‘Complicit’ Jeff Bezos

Following the long-anticipated layoffs at the Washington Post, liberals are expressing anger and sorrow at the loss of about 300 jobs, which included many of their favorite liberal reporters.On Wednesday, the Post — which lost an estimated $100 million in 2024 — eliminated about a third of its staff, according to multiple reports, indicating that the entire sports section was among those cut. The paper also reportedly significantly downsized its metro, books, and international teams. Caroline O’Donovan, a reporter who was covering Amazon – the company founded by the Post’s owner, Jeff Bezos – was also laid off. Ms. O’Donovan had written multiple articles critical of Amazon, both at the Post and also far left news outlets Buzzfeed News (now disbanded) and ProPublica, which she’d written for prior to joining the Post.The executive editor of the Post, Matt Murray, said in a note to the newsroom that the layoffs were part of a restructuring effort and a shift away from a model that is “too rooted in a different era.”But liberal commentators are fuming over the cuts at the paper, which in 2017 adopted what was perceived as the anti-Trump motto “Democracy Dies in Darkness” and pursued an anti-Trump editorial strategy. (The Post denied that the motto was directed at the first Trump Administration.) Many commentators have lashed out at the paper’s centibillionaire owner, Mr. Bezos, for apparently not opening his wallet to bail out the paper and stave off the cuts. The liberal former editor of the paper, Marty Baron, said in a statement that the layoffs rank “among the darkest days in the history of one of the world’s greatest news organizations.”He criticized Mr. Bezos’ decision to kill the paper’s planned endorsement of Vice President Harris in the 2024 election, as well as the billionaire’s order that the editorial page publish columns dedicated to “personal liberties and free markets.”Those decisions, according to Mr. Baron, made the paper’s financial struggles “infinitely worse” as they led to “hundreds of thousands” of readers being “driven away.”Indeed, hundreds of thousands of readers canceled their paid subscriptions after Mr. Bezos started forcibly pushing the paper to the right.Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, leader of the far left “Squad,” wrote on X, “When Jeff Bezos bought WaPo, he immediately took control of the opinions section. Now, he’s laying off hundreds of journalists, including those covering Amazon. This isn’t a coincidence. It’s the result of billionaires with vested political agendas taking over our media.”Her timeline of events is off, as Mr. Bezos acquired the Post in 2013 and did not direct changes to the opinion section until February 2025, several years after the paper began bleeding money. Democratic Socialist Senator Bernie Sanders said, “If Jeff Bezos could afford to spend $75 million on the Melania movie & $500 million for a yacht to sail off to his $55 million wedding to give his wife a $5 million ring, please don’t tell me he needed to fire one-third of the Washington Post staff. Democracy dies in oligarchy.”“Jeff Bezos just fired hundreds of reporters at the Washington Post — including the Amazon reporter holding his OWN company accountable. Reminder: Jeff Bezos’ net worth is nearly $250,000,000,000,” wrote far-left Democratic Senator Elizabeth Warren. A weekend host at the left-wing network MS NOW, Jonathan Capehart, said that with the layoffs, the Post is “complicit” in “killing” democracy. A senior writer at ESPN, Don Van Natta Jr., wrote on X, “The Washington Post lost $77 million in 2023. Jeff Bezos just spent at least $75 million on an infomercial named “Melania” — $40 million paid to the President and First Lady. Priorities.”“The truth about the Washington Post: Bezos made decisions to curry favor with Trump that made a lot of Washington Post readers distrust the newspaper. It then lost a lot of subscriptions, which lost money. And now he’s doing layoffs. He should sell the paper to someone who will make better decisions and avoid layoffs,” wrote longtime Democratic operative and Hillary Clinton confidante Neera Tanden. A podcaster, Kara Swisher, joined journalist Katie Couric’s Substack show and blasted Mr. Bezos.Ms. Swisher suggested those angered by the cuts should “protest like the fine people in Minnesota” and “stop paying for things” — likely a suggestion to stop making purchases on Amazon — and “stop feathering the nest of Jeff Bezos so that he can do more … whatever the hell he does all day.”Ms. Couric responded, “You’re right. He’s just going to fashion shows with his wife. It is so bizarre to me.”The Post did not respond to the Sun’s request for comment by the time of publication. Representatives for Mr. Bezos did not respond to the Sun’s request for comment by the time of publication.

Angry Liberals Rage Over Washington Post Layoffs, Lash Out at ‘Complicit’ Jeff Bezos

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