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WaPo opinion editor tells angry staff during tense meeting they could resign over Bezos’ support decision
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WaPo opinion editor tells angry staff during tense meeting they could resign over Bezos’ support decision

Best idea editor Washington Post He had a frank conversation with his staff, who were angered by his decision not to grant presidential approval, and told them they could resign if they couldn’t accept the situation.

Washington Free Sign achieved record Footage of a tense meeting led by The Post’s editorial page editor David Shipley on Monday. According to the Free Beacon, Shipley told opinion staffers that they were free to express their dissent but could ultimately decide whether to stay or stay.

“Whatever you decide, I’m OK with it,” Shipley said. “What I really want to say is don’t be left out in the cold. Don’t be here if you don’t want to be.”

Shipley told staff he was “trying very hard” to convince The Post’s billionaire owner. Jeff Bezos attempting to reverse the decision via phone call, but ultimately failing to do so.

WAPO ARTICLE JEFF BEZOS’ ‘BULL — STATEMENT’ ABOUT DISAPPROVATION IS CALLED: ‘BENDING THE KNEE’ TO TRUMP

David Shipley

Washington Post editorial page editor David Shipley told his staff to either accept his decision not to support a presidential candidate or resign from the newspaper during a tense meeting. (Washington Post via Jabin Botsford/Getty Images)

He likened the decision to “a bomb exploding” and now we are picking up the pieces. At the meeting, he complained that Bezos was destroying the Post’s reputation as an “independent journalistic organization” and took issue with the timing of the decision and how it might be interpreted by readers.

Shipley was asked if Bezos meant who the Post should support. “I’m not going to say who you desire or support because that’s none of my business.”

“The only thing that can’t happen in this country is four more years of Trump,” an editor said at the meeting, according to the Free Beacon.

Washington Post opinion writer Drew Goins reportedly suggested that one way to get around the decision was to publish an editorial condemning former President Trump without calling it an “endorsement” for Vice President Kamala Harris.

WASHINGTON POST NEWSROOM CONFRONTED JEFF BEZOS’ DEFENDING NON-APPROVATION OF “TONE-DEAF” OP-ED

“Tomorrow, as the editorial board, can we come out and say once again that Trump is a danger to the republic, that Kamala Harris is by far the better choice, that voting in the elections is important, that we urge you to come out? Vote? The board of directors ‘ “Does he have the independence to say that without using the word ‘approval’?” Goins asked.

“I think until Friday I was operating under a misunderstanding of how editorial boards work,” Goins later said. “I was quite surprised at how directly the owner intervened with the board.”

Jeff Bezos and the Washington Post

Jeff Bezos, owner of the Washington Post, wrote in an op-ed that his decision to halt presidential endorsements was motivated by a lack of trust in legacy media. ((Photo: Karwai Tang/WireImage) ERIC BARADAT/AFP via Getty Images)

JEFF BEZOS SOUNDS OUT ON THE WASHINGTON POST ENDORSEMENT FIASCO, SAYS MEDIA DISBELIEF CAUSED THE ‘PRINCIPLED DECISION’

Several staff members expressed concerns about the control Bezos might have over the article going forward. Columnist Dana Milbank wondered to the Free Beacon whether the billionaire might intervene “if it benefits Jeff’s business interests and casts a shadow over our journalism.”

“I have always been able to answer with a clear conscience that our owner, Jeff Bezos, did not interfere with our copies, did not tell us that we could not publish something… I feel like I can’t say that anymore.” said columnist Catherine Rampell. “Who would believe that this is true, that we are not just following his orders, that we are still an independent journalistic organization?”

Liberal columnist and MSNBC contributor Eugene Robinson was outraged, saying The Post had “outraged and (fired) out many of our most loyal and enthusiastic readers.” Another reviewer insisted that “the damage done to the board, the section and the paper was incalculable”.

Columnist Ruth Marcus told the meeting: “It pains me that we cannot speak out strongly against Donald Trump and everything he represents.”

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Vice President Kamala Harris

The Washington Post was ready to support Vice President Kamala Harris before Bezos canceled his plans. (Kent Nishimura/Getty Images)

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Jennifer Rubin, an outspoken critic of Bezos’ decision, sounded the alarm about the “visible conflict” the billionaire would have with his other businesses and their ties to a possible future Trump presidency, asking, “What will happen if Trump wins?” Do we know that you don’t put your thumb on the scale?”

“(The country) is on the verge of electing someone who runs on a platform of revenge, fear and retaliation,” Rubin said.

“If your doubts are so great, then you should make the decision that feels pure, right and ethical to you,” Shipley told Rubin.

A spokesman for The Washington Post declined to comment.

Panic continues to grip The Post, with “Democracy Dying in Darkness” losing more than 250,000 subscribers since Friday, as liberal readers remain outraged over the decision not to support Harris.