Jeff Bezos Slams Trump For “Demonizing” The Media

Politico reports:

Amazon CEO and Washington Post owner Jeff Bezos took aim at President Donald Trump over his criticism of journalists Thursday night, saying his rhetoric calling the media the “enemy of the people” erodes the freedom of the press the nation cherishes.

“It is a mistake for any elected official in my opinion … to attack media and journalists. I believe that it’s an essential component of our democracy,” Bezos said in an on-stage interview hosted by the Economic Club of Washington.

“What the president should say is, ‘This is right. This is good. I am glad I am getting scrutinized,'” he said. “But it’s really dangerous to demonize the media. It’s dangerous to call the media lowlifes. It’s dangerous to say they’re the ‘enemy of the people.'”

The Los Angeles Times reports:



Jeff Bezos and his wife, MacKenzie Bezos, are launching a $2-billion fund to help homeless families and create a network of nonprofit preschools in low-income communities. The move catapults the world’s richest person into a rarefied group of billionaire mega-donors at a time when his company, Amazon.com Inc., faces growing scrutiny over its rising power and impact on the economy.

The Bezos Day One Fund will focus on two initiatives, the billionaire announced in an online post Thursday. The first will fund existing nonprofits and issue annual awards to organizations doing “compassionate, needle-moving work” to shelter and support the immediate needs of young families. The second will operate a network of high-quality, full-scholarship Montessori-inspired preschools. The fund’s vision statement comes from nonprofit Mary’s Place in Seattle: No child sleeps outside.