Profile in Cowardice: Jeff Bezos

You would think one of the world’s richest men would be willing to fight back. You’d be wrong.

Photo Credit: iafastro

We started Home of the Brave to highlight the courage shown by ordinary people in the face of Donald Trump’s onslaught against democracy.

On a regular basis, we’ll also bring you examples of powerful people who chose a different path—bowing and scraping to Trump, rather than standing up and speaking the truth.

This week, our profile in cowardice goes to Jeff Bezos.

When Bezos bought The Washington Post, he talked a big game, saying, “the credibility that an organization like The Washington Post brings is incredibly important.” Under Trump 1.0, the paper slapped the moniker “Democracy Dies in Darkness” just beneath its logo, in a nod to the acute threat posed by Trump and Trumpism.

But in the lead-up to the 2024 election, and ever since, Bezos has gone out of his way to bend the knee to Trump. The reason is obvious: He knows Trump is vindictive, and he fears losing access to lucrative federal contracts for his other companies, like Blue Origin and Amazon.

For Bezos, all of that high-minded talk about journalistic credibility turns out to have just been a pose.

Before the election, Bezos killed the Post’s presidential endorsement of Kamala Harris, saying that the paper was “returning to our roots of not endorsing presidential candidates.” But the Post has, like most newspapers, endorsed candidates for decades, and continues to do so for other offices. Coming just days before the election, Bezos’ purpose in all of this was obvious.

Once Trump won, Bezos rushed to ingratiate himself to the new regime, kicking in $1 million for Trump’s campaign slush fund and appearing alongside him at the inauguration. It was a key early optics win for Trump’s authoritarian project, and it sent a signal to other tech oligarchs that they’d better play ball, or risk upsetting the dear leader.

Since then, Bezos has overseen a massive drain of talent and journalistic credibility from the Post, reducing the paper to a shell of its former self. Hundreds of thousands of subscribers have fled. Staffers are demoralized, and Bezos even put a new Orwellian spin on the paper’s opinion page, saying their focus will now be on “personal liberties and free markets.”

Imprisoning people without due process and crippling the global economy with tariffs—is that what Bezos meant by “personal liberties and free markets”?

Then there was Bezos’ humiliating reversal on Trump’s tariffs. After Punchbowl News reported that Amazon was considering adding a tag showing how much tariffs were driving up the costs of certain goods, Trump called Bezos. It didn’t take long for Bezos to back down, and the White House took a victory lap.

So, let’s review Bezos’ record on democracy and the rule of law so far under Trump 2.0:

• Destroying a historic and storied newsroom

• Sending top-flight journalistic talent and subscribers running for the exits

• Cozying up to a wannabe dictator in the White House, giving him bags of money, and lending a veneer of legitimacy to his authoritarian project

• Pretending to be pro-tariff

That’s how Bezos has decided to meet the Trump moment.

And here’s the thing: Nobody made Jeff Bezos do this. Better than anybody, he was in a position to take on Donald Trump. He has a net worth of more than $200 billion, runs some world’s most powerful corporations, and—until recently, at least—seemed to understand the acute threat that Trump poses.

Yet, with American democracy on the line, Bezos chose to cower in fear, rather than speak the obvious truth. He’s leaving it to regular Americans—people who don’t own super-yachts, mega-corporations, or armies of well-connected lobbyists—to speak out and meet the authoritarian threat head-on.

Thankfully, there are real people out there who are still willing to do what needs to be done—standing up to Trump, and calling out his lies clearly, unequivocally, and repeatedly. They’re part of our Home of the Brave campaign, and they’re speaking out about the damage Trump is doing.

America still has plenty of people who have shown bravery. Jeff Bezos just happens to not be one of them.

Home of the Brave is a project showcasing real people speaking out against Donald Trump’s disastrous agenda.