Late Sunday, Trump took to Twitter to criticize The Washington Post for publishing a bombshell story that claimed ties between the incoming executive editor and a “self-described ‘thief.'”
The former president saw the developing scandal as an opportunity to ramp up his criticisms of the media, particularly The Washington Post, which he has disliked since his first presidential campaign.
False stories are causing a total meltdown at the Washington Post. They need to get their act together and start publishing the truth if they want to win back any readers, Trump said. “The Washington Post has run its course; they serve no purpose anymore.”
A representative from the Washington Post did not want to speak with AWN.
Following CEO and publisher Will Lewis’s announcement earlier this month of the sudden replacement of Executive Editor Sally Buzbee with two of his former associates, the Washington Post has been subject to both internal and external scrutiny. Lewis and Robert Winnett, who will soon be the top editor of The Washington Post, allegedly wrote two pieces based on stolen company documents and phone calls while working for the Sunday Times in Britain, according to Saturday’s New York Times investigation.
According to the New York Times, Lewis broke the standards of most American newsrooms by paying a source over £100,000 for information. Through a representative from the Washington Post, he refused to respond to a series of questions posed by the New York Times. No one from The New York Times was able to get Winnett to return their calls or messages.
Sunday saw the publication of a separate article regarding the British media executives’ tenure at The Sunday Times in The Washington Post. There were allegations in the piece that Lewis took money for a story and that Winnett worked with a man who confessed to using dishonest methods to get sensitive material.
Lewis, via a Washington Post spokeswoman, declined to comment, and Winnett did not answer a series of inquiries.
The Washington Post is owned by Jeff Bezos, the multibillionaire founder of Amazon, and Trump described its employees as “fools and stupid people… who are in no way qualified to be doing what they are doing” in his Truth Social post. In the past, Bezos has attacked Trump for his criticisms of the media and journalists.
“One would think that Bezos, who is losing over $100 million annually on that ‘RAG,’ would desire to witness at least REAL Journalism, rather than Fake Stories that undermine and oppress our Nation,” Trump added. According to a story in last year’s New York Times, The Washington Post was projected to lose almost $100 million in 2023.
Although Bezos has remained mum on the subject of the editorial shakeup at The Washington Post, the New York Times reports that in private conversations he has voiced his support for Lewis and his decisions.