PULSE POINTS:

❓What Happened: Washington Post columnist Josh Rogin admitted during an appearance on Piers Morgan Uncensored that he fears being fired if he comments on or critiques the newspaper’s owner, Amazon founder and mega-billionaire Jeff Bezos.

👥 Who’s Involved: Piers Morgan, Josh Rogin, Bill Maher, Jeff Bezos, and Donald J. Trump.

📍 Where & When: The debate occurred on Piers Morgan Uncensored, following Maher’s account of his dinner with President Trump on Real Time, which aired on Friday.

💬 Key Quote: Rogin stated, “I’m not in a position to comment on Jeff Bezos, because if I comment on Jeff Bezos, then I could be fired from my job.”

⚠️ Impact: The conversation highlighted potential double standards in media criticism and raised questions about the influence of media ownership. In recent months, Bezos has taken a more active role in the Washington Post, especially on the newspaper’s editorial side.

IN FULL:

On a recent episode of Piers Morgan Uncensored, columnist Josh Rogin found himself in a tight spot as he was challenged to explain why he criticized comedian Bill Maher‘s recent dinner meeting with Present Donald J. Trump while overlooking similar actions by Washington Post owner Jeff Bezos. Rogin was pressed by host Piers Morgan over dismissing Maher’s engagement with Trump as a “PR stunt,” accusing the host of HBO’s Real Time With Bill Maher of inadvertently serving as a tool for Trump’s publicity.

Morgan grilled the Washington Post columnist on his apparent selective criticism, pointing out that Bezos, who owns the newspaper, has had several recent public and private interactions with Trump. “He called him and praised him after he was shot. At a New York Times event in December Bezos said he was optimistic about a second Trump presidency. He had dinner at Mar-a-Lago in December 2024. He pledged a million dollars to Trump’s inauguration fund. He attended the inauguration. Amazon, obviously, one of his, companies [Amazon] streamed Trump’s inauguration on its Prime Video service and is also paying $40 million for a Melania Trump documentary,” Morgan noted.

After several exchanges, Morgan finally drew a stunning confession from Rogin after lampooning the columnist’s unwillingness to discuss Bezos. “All right, but look, Josh, look, if it looks like a duck and it sounds like a duck, it’s probably a duck,” Morgan jabbed, adding: “I mean, you can appreciate that if you’re Bill Maher watching you refusing to be remotely critical of what your own owner has done with Trump in terms of kissing the ring, you could potentially see that he might think there’s a double standard there.”

An exasperated Rogin relented, admitting: “You know, I see what you’re trying to do, Piers, but I’m not in a position to comment on Jeff Bezos, because if I comment on Jeff Bezos, then I could be fired from my job and you know that, so I’m not going to do that.”

The National Pulse reported last October that the Washington Post saw over 200,000 digital readers cancel their subscriptions and its editorial staff revolt against ownership after Bezos and the newspaper’s editorial board decided not to endorse Democratic Party presidential candidate Kamala Harris, choosing instead not to back any candidate. Since the 2024 election, the newspaper has bled subscribers and revenue while facing a second staff revolt in late February of this year when Bezos announced changes to the newspaper’s opinion section, stating it would now focus on promoting “personal liberties and free markets.”