Washington Post in 'disarray' after cartoonist quits, staff exodus
The Washington Post is in "disarray" after a long-term cartoonist at the paper quit, Axios reporter Alex Thompson said Monday on CNN.
Pulitzer Prize-winning cartoonist Ann Telnaes left the Post following the paper’s rejection of her artwork, which features Amazon founder and Post owner Jeff Bezos groveling to President-elect Trump.
"It shows what a different place the Washington Post is in comparison to the first Trump term. The Washington Post, honestly, the first Trump administration was rocket fuel for the Washington Post. Now you're seeing it sort of in disarray. Not only the decision not to endorse [in the 2024 presidential race] but now this. You‘ve had a lot of people leave the Post and I think this Washington institution is in a very different place," Thompson said.
Telnaes, who has worked as a cartoonist for the Washington Post since 2008, announced via Substack she was quitting after the paper killed her cartoon, which depicted Bezos and other unspecified wealthy businessmen kneeling down and holding up bags of money to the incoming president. Mickey Mouse is shown bowing down to Trump on the floor next to them.
Prior to Election Day, Bezos stopped the Washington Post's editorial board from endorsing Vice President Kamala Harris, causing several staffers to quit in protest.
On Monday, CNN contributor Brad Todd said, "What would be real courage is, if she quit because she had a conservative cartoon denied publication by her bosses, that would cause real courage."
"She's going to be lionized by journalists everywhere, she’ll get an award from Columbia for this," he added. "When Jeff Bezos, Mark Zuckerberg, all those people were giving money to Joe Biden in the last administration, was that the subject of a cartoon? No it was not. It was not. This is an ideological problem. The Post deserves it."
CNN host Kasie Hunt said earlier in the discussion that the others pictured in the cartoon were Meta founder Mark Zuckerberg, OpenAI's Sam Altman and the Los Angeles Times owner Patrick Soon-Shing, who also stopped his paper from endorsing a presidential candidate this cycle.
In her Substack article, "Why I’m Quitting the Washington Post," Telnaes said, "I have had editorial feedback and productive conversations—and some differences—about cartoons I have submitted for publication, but in all that time I’ve never had a cartoon killed because of who or what I chose to aim my pen at. Until now."
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Telnaes explained her drawing, stating, "The cartoon that was killed criticizes the billionaire tech and media chief executives who have been doing their best to curry favor with incoming President-elect Trump."
Telnaes’ Disney reference appears to be a dig at the company being cited as a factor behind ABC News’ recent $15 million settlement with Trump earlier this month.
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In her Substack piece, Telnaes continued to proclaim her belief that the Post squashed the cartoon because of its political point. She wrote, "To be clear, there have been instances where sketches have been rejected or revisions requested, but never because of the point of view inherent in the cartoon’s commentary. That’s a game changer…and dangerous for a free press."
Fox News' Gabriel Hays contributed to this report.