Presidential candidate and Independent Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders echoed President Donald Trump’s longtime skepticism of The Washington Post since Jeff Bezos owns it, causing the newspaper’s executive editor to accuse Sanders of peddling a “conspiracy theory.”
“Sen. Sanders is a member of a large club of politicians — of every ideology — who complain about their coverage,” Baron said. “Contrary to the conspiracy theory the senator seems to favor, Jeff Bezos allows our newsroom to operate with full independence, as our reporters and editors can attest.”
Sanders insinuated that WaPo gave him unfavorable coverage because he is a longtime critic of Amazon, which Bezos founded, at a town hall in Wolfeboro, New Hampshire, Monday.
“Anybody here know how much Amazon paid in taxes last year?” Sanders asked according to USA Today.
“Nothing,” responded the audience.
“I talk about that all of the time, and then I wonder why The Washington Post, which is owned by Jeff Bezos, who owns Amazon, doesn’t write particularly good articles about me. I don’t know why, but I guess maybe there’s a connection,” Sanders said.
Trump made similar accusations as far back as 2016.
“[E]very hour we’re getting calls from reporters from The Washington Post asking ridiculous questions. And I will tell you, this is owned as a toy by Jeff Bezos, who controls Amazon. Amazon is getting away with murder, tax-wise. He’s using The Washington Post for power so that the politicians in Washington don’t tax Amazon like they should be taxed,” Trump said on “Hannity” in May 2016.
Sanders’ critique comes after WaPo published a story about Sanders’ reported failure to pay staffers an annual salary equal to the $15 hourly wage that Sanders said should be the minimum for all workers. The story came out in July.
A page on Sanders’ Senate website invites Amazon employees to “share your experiences working at Amazon.”
“Did you struggle with the demanding working conditions at Amazon? Please share your story below,” the site says above a questionnaire.
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