Jeff Bezos is trying. to influence this election

Question

Jeff Bezos is using his power and rich allies to try to turn the tide in the election in favor of one candidate.

Answer 1

The claim itself seems to be the more misleading part of this, though I can understand where it comes from. The Guardian, where this article is from, is mostly reliable, but can sometimes favor the Left. Normally this doesn't hurt its objectivity enough to really skew the facts, but this article sometimes leaves out some small details that can explain Bezos's intentions.

An article about this same situation from The Hill, a news source that I've found to be very objective, sheds some light on what happened. As the article states, Bezos didn't necessarily abuse his power to favor a certain candidate. The Guardian goes on about how he didn't endorse Harris, but leaves out the fact that he didn't endorse Trump either. Something that The Hill stated, which wasn't in the article from The Guardian, was that he "abstained from endorsing a presidential candidate" as a whole. Officials from Bezos's company would later go on to attend a meeting with Trump, but with the context that Bezos never formally endorsed Trump, it was moreso a decision of his business's success instead of a way to skew the election.

The Hill's article:

https://thehill.com/homenews/media/4954196-bezos-decision-post-endorsement/

Comments

I found this article which is quite interesting about the effect of Bezo's statements on the readers. https://www.business-standard.com/world-news/perception-of-bias-what-jeff-bezos-said-on-the-wapo-not-endorsing-harris-124103000256_1.html. Additionally Teen Vogue posted on more of Bezo's political views which could help create a more well-rounded argument. https://www.teenvogue.com/story/amazon-ceo-jeff-bezos-donation-dreamers

Answer 2

The evidence used by The Guardian primarily hinges on the non-action from the Washington Post (following a drafted endorsement of Harris) and Blue Origin executives' talks with Trump around the same time. The Guardian's coverage of the matter also relies on testimony from Robert Kagan — testimony that was offered just one day after he resigned from the Washington Post. While this doesn't discredit Kagan, it does bring into question his motivations in criticizing the Trump/Blue Origin talk. The Washington Post's publisher, William Lewis, also took the blame for the non-publishing of the Post's Harris endorsement. This is corroborated by the New York Post and the Columbia Journalism Review:

NY Post

CJR

At this time, it's unclear what went on behind closed doors to lead the Post to cancel their endorsement and how Bezos owning the Post and Blue Origin is involved. It is entirely plausible that Blue Origin's meeting with Trump isn't connected to the Post's non-action. The claim that Bezos himself is directly trying to influence the election is a bold and likely unfounded one.