Donald Trump has a personal vendetta against anyone who is more respected or successful than him. At this point in his disastrous presidency, that list is pretty long. While former president Barack Obama may still be at the top of Trump’s sh*t list, Jeff Bezos — the owner of Amazon and the Washington Post — is a close runner up.
Trump has attacked Bezos consistently over the past year, especially since the Washington Post continues to fact check him. Trump has spread lies to hurt both Amazon and the Post, which has only resulted in elevating Bezos even more. For the most part, Bezos has refused to engage with Trump but last night he finally spoke up about the president — and it was worth the wait.
During an event last night at the Economic Club of Washington, Bezos attacked the president, calling his attacks on the free press “dangerous.” When Bezos was asked questions about how he deals with public criticism, the Amazon CEO said that it was a “mistake” for the president to lash out against the press. Bezos, exposing the president for the insecure man baby that he is, said:
What the president should say is, ‘This is right, I’m glad I’m being scrutinized.’ That would be so secure and confident. But it is really dangerous to demonize the media. It is dangerous to call the media lowlifes, it is dangerous to say that they are the enemy of the people.”
While Bezos didn’t touch on Trump’s remarks on Amazon, he did defend the Washington Post as part of his point about the media. Bezos stated that attacks on the media chip away at “healthy” societal norms because public officials should be able to handle criticism. He said:
We live in a society where it’s not just the laws of the land that protect us. It’s also social norms that protect us. And every time you attack that, you’re eroding it a little bit around the edges.”
We certainly hope Trump takes this to heart. Unfortunately, he’s probably just going to throw a tantrum.
Featured image via screen capture
