The cartoon criticizes billionaire techies who are doing everything they can to curry favor with President-elect Trump.
The cartoon criticizes billionaire techies who are doing everything they can to curry favor with President-elect Trump.
Pulitzer Prize-winning cartoonist Anne Thelnes has resigned from the Washington Post after it refused to publish her cartoon of the publication's owner, Jeff Bezos, CNN reports .
In the picture, Bezos stands with a bag of money on his knees in front of a monument to US President-elect Donald Trump.
The cartoon also shows Meta founder Mark Zuckerberg and OpenAI CEO Sam Altman kneeling, handing bags of cash to a statue of Donald Trump.
Also standing next to them is the owner of the Los Angeles Times, Patrick Soon-Shiong, and Mickey Mouse, the corporate symbol of the Walt Disney Company, which owns the ABC News channel.
According to the cartoonist herself, the cartoon "criticizes billionaire techies and media executives who are doing everything they can to curry favor with President-elect Trump."
Tellnes has worked at the WP since 2008, and during that time, she says, she has had “some disagreements” with the editorial staff. She says that so far, “none of the cartoons have been rejected because of who or what I have directed my pen at.” She condemned the newspaper’s refusal to publish her image, calling it “a game changer and dangerous for a free press.”
Meanwhile, WP Opinion Editor David Shipley said he respected Thelnes but disagreed with “her interpretation of events.” According to him, the cartoon was not published because a column had already been published on the same topic and another was planned.
The American Editorial Cartoonists Association accused the newspaper of “greedy censorship” and “political cowardice.” It called on other cartoonists to complete Thelnes’ sketch and post it online as a show of solidarity.
As a reminder, Amazon, owned by Jeff Bezos, who also owns the Washington Post, and Meta, owned by Mark Zuckerberg, are among those who have donated money to Trump's inauguration. Meta donated $1 million to the cause.
