Mary Trump, the niece of Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump, derided the decision of Washington Post owner Jeff Bezos to "force his paper" into abdicating its "journalistic responsibility" by shelving an endorsement for Democrat nominee Kamala Harris.
Mary Trump, who is estranged from her uncle, called Donald Trump a "full-blown fascist" in her blog post on Saturday.
She was reacting to the Post's decision to discontinue making presidential endorsements, starting with this one. Although Post publisher William Lewis announced the decision in an opinion piece Friday morning, the newspaper reported later in the day that it was Bezos who made the decision. Lewis told CNN on Saturday that his own paper's reporting was "inaccurate."
Regardless, the widespread blowback has focused on Bezos, with Lewis seen as the front man for the owner.
"The fallout is greater than anyone — especially Bezos — expected. Bezos' cluelessness is likely the result of his arrogance because, like many other wealthy men, arrogance made him overstep," Mary Trump wrote Saturday.
Though of the opinion that endorsements don't "count for much," she took aim at "the potential impact this glaring omission had specifically in the wake of the Post's endorsements in the last two elections."
The Post in 2016 called Donald Trump "dreadful" in its endorsement of Hillary Clinton and then labeled him "the worst president of modern times" in its 2020 endorsement of Joe Biden, both under Bezos, who bought the newspaper in 2013.
"In the very long four years since those words were written, Donald Trump and the agenda he espouses have gotten much, much worse — more violent, more bigoted, more openly fascist," she wrote. "Choosing not to allow the editorial board to endorse Harris was obscene and the failure, or inability, of the board to do so leaves a gaping void into which the most awful conclusions can be drawn."
Mary Trump bashed Bezos on Friday, too. She accused Bezos of "obeying in advance" of another Trump presidency.
"Jeff Bezos has succumbed to ... anticipatory obedience ... to protect his Amazon fortune from a Trump administration that will be steeped in vengeance against Donald's enemies, real and perceived," she wrote Friday.
"Much more importantly, though, this is a rather monstrous abdication of responsibility in the face of the very real fascist threat that looms over us all — especially those of us who aren't billionaires. It is yet another stark and troubling instance of the failures of our corporate media to do its job," she added.
Mary Trump is the daughter of Fred Trump Jr., who died in 1981. Her father was eight years older than her uncle.