Amazon founder and Washington Post owner Jeff Bezos doubled down on his decision to end the practice of endorsing presidential candidates, saying Wednesday, “It was the right decision, I am proud of the decision we made.”
Bezos made the comments in a conversation with Andrew Ross Sorkin at The New York Times Dealbook Summit. The Amazon founder was the closing interview for the event, which was held at New York’s Jazz at Lincoln Center.
He added that when they made the decision, they knew it would cause a political firestorm and some damage to the Post’s business, but that the erosion of trust that the media was facing made it a necessary decision.
“We knew that this was going to be perceived in a very big way, these things punch above their weight,” he said. “You can’t do the wrong thing because you are worried about bad PR, or whatever you want to call it.
“I am very aware that the Post covers all presidents very aggressively, and will continue to cover all presidents very aggressively,” he added.
He also said that he is actively working on a plan to turn around the Post and position it for the future.
“I have a bunch of ideas, and I am working on that right now,” Bezos said. “We saved The Washington Post once, this will be the second time. It needs to be put back on a good footing again. “
Bezos acquired The Washington Post in 2013 for $250 million, hoping to turn the newspaper around. While the outlet has had some success in recent years, it has still struggled to keep up with the Times, as well as other competitors like The Wall Street Journal.
The decision to end presidential endorsements served as a shock to the system of the Post, with the editorial board having already written an endorsement of Vice President Kamala Harris.
In an op-ed for the paper a few days after the decision was announced, Bezos argued that “Presidential endorsements do nothing to tip the scales of an election.”
He added, “what presidential endorsements actually do is create a perception of bias. A perception of non-independence.”
Bezos said Wednesday, “I’m a terrible owner for the Post from the point of view of an appearance of conflict of interest,” noting that executives from Amazon, Blue Origin and his other companies routinely meet with government officials. “The advantage I bring to the Post is, when they need financial resources, I am available. I am the doting parent in that regard.”
But the tech executive also seemed upbeat about a second Donald Trump presidency, despite all the flame-throwing directed at him and the Post.
“I am very optimistic this time around, I am very hopeful, he seems to have a lot of energy around reducing regulation, and if I can help him do that, I am going to help them,” he said, noting that big economic growth can help solve issues like the national debt. “I am very optimistic that President Trump is serious about this regulatory agenda, and I think he has a good chance at succeeding.”
As for the question about whether Elon Musk — who is Blue Origin’s biggest competitor, with SpaceX — would use his relationship with Trump to hurt Blue Origin or Amazon, Bezos seemed unconcerned.
“I take at face value what has been said, which is that he is not going to use his political power to advantage his own companies or disadvantage his competitors,” Bezos said.
In fact, he said, “I have had a lot of success in life not being cynical,” and expressed optimism about the future of AI, of interplanetary travel, robotics and other big-picture items.
“We are in multiple golden ages at once. There has never been a more extraordinary moment to be alive,” he said. “We are so lucky.”