Washington Post owner Jeff Bezos defended his decision to revamp the paper’s opinion page in the form of a pointed online reply to a transgender podcaster.

Last week, Bezos announced the Post’s opinion section would only focus on ‘free markets and personal liberties’ – leading to cries of bias and seeking to appease the Trump administration.

Michigan-based activist and attorney Hendrix Moise took it a step further, branding the billionaire ‘a facist’ for his decision.

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‘So you’re going fascist too Jeff? Bend the knee,’ Moise wrote in reply to a February 26 post on X penned by the billionaire outlining his plans for the paper’s opinion section.

On Sunday – the same day Bezos attended an Oscars afterparty with fiancée Lauren Sanchez – he fired back at the comment.

‘There is nothing fascist about personal liberties and free markets,’ he replied.

‘On its face,’ Moises shot back. ‘But whose version of personal liberties? Your version? You’re telling the opinion page what it can and cannot cover. I’m a WaPo reader, I think you’re bending the knee to Trump. Unfortunate.’

Bezos’ response was one of a handful he wrote on X to both critics and supporters of his decision.

Washington Post owner Jeff Bezos - seen here at Vanity Fair Oscar Party Sunday night - is defending his decision to revamp the paper's opinion page
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Washington Post owner Jeff Bezos – seen here at Vanity Fair Oscar Party Sunday night – is defending his decision to revamp the paper’s opinion page

Bezos gave as a pointed online reply to accusations of fascism from transgender podcaster Hendrix Moise, seen here
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Bezos gave as a pointed online reply to accusations of fascism from transgender podcaster Hendrix Moise, seen here

The Washington Post’s opinion section has been subject to an exodus of talent following Bezos decision to not endorse a presidential candidate shortly before the election.  

The page will now focus solely on support for ‘personal liberties and free markets,’ Bezos said last week, sparking backlash from like users like Moise, who hosts a podcast called The Uprising Is Here.

Moise, who has more than 22,000 followers on X, frequently criticizes President Donald Trump and Elon Musk.

He describes himself as a licensed criminal defense attorney who works on LGBT-rights cases.

He transitioned to male more than a decade ago, social media posts show.

The first episode of his podcast, released in 2023, covered ‘Ancient Transgender History.’

When another user panned the podcaster for what they viewed as ‘leftist logic,’ Moise claimed that he was ‘not a leftist.’

Tech billionaires like Bezos have been accused of cozying up to Trump since his election, fueling outrage from critics.

Pictured, the back-and-forth seen on social media between the two
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Pictured, the back-and-forth seen on social media between the two

Moise, who has more than 22,000 followers on X, frequently criticizes President Donald Trump and Elon Musk. He describes himself as a licensed criminal defense attorney who works on LGBT-rights cases.
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Moise, who has more than 22,000 followers on X, frequently criticizes President Donald Trump and Elon Musk. He describes himself as a licensed criminal defense attorney who works on LGBT-rights cases.

Bezos was in attendance at the US Capitol when Trump was sworn-in, as was Meta’s Mark Zuckerberg and Google CEO Sundar Pichai.

Afterwards, outgoing President Joe Biden warned Americans of an ‘oligarchy’ rapidly forming within the US.

Days before Trump’s win, Bezos partied overseas with Sanchez and pop star Katy Perry.

Both are now set to be launched into space alongside CBS Mornings’ Gayle King on a Bezos Blue Origin flight set for spring.

Perry had been celebrating her 40th birthday in Venice alongside Bezos, Sanchez, and her fiancé Orlando Bloom – as Post staffers aired frustrations with the paper’s leadership.

Apart from the staffers – 400 of whom sent a scathing letter to the billionaire demanding a sitdown in January –  250,000 readers cancelled their subscriptions in protest.

In his explanation for the decision, Bezos cited growing ‘distrust’ of media.

‘What presidential endorsements actually do is create a perception of bias,’ the 60-year-old, who is worth some $206.2 billion, said at the time.

On Sunday - the same day Bezos attended an Oscars afterparty with fiancée Lauren Sanchez - Bezos fired back at critics' comments
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On Sunday – the same day Bezos attended an Oscars afterparty with fiancée Lauren Sanchez – Bezos fired back at critics’ comments

The exchanges come as several prominent Post opinion writers have already left the paper, due to Bezos's decision to not offer a Post endorsement for either presidential candidate
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The exchanges come as several prominent Post opinion writers have already left the paper, due to Bezos’s decision to not offer a Post endorsement for either presidential candidate

The billionaire - seen with Sanchez at Trump's Mar-a-Lago mansion in December to break bread with the president following his win - has since been accused of cozying up to the current president
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The billionaire – seen with Sanchez at Trump’s Mar-a-Lago mansion in December to break bread with the president following his win – has since been accused of cozying up to the current president

‘A perception of non-independence. Ending them is a principled decision, and it’s the right one.’

Three days before, Post CEO Will Lewis released a memo announcing the lack of an endorsement for the first time since 1988, a move that led to a parade of opinion page exits.

Now-former Post Opinion Editor Robert Kagan was among them, accusing company brass of engaging in a quid-pro-quo with the Trump campaign after execs from Blue Origin were spotted meeting with Trump in October.

Another columnist, Michelle Norris, also walked out, writing on X that the decision was a ‘terrible mistake’ that same month.

Three prominent opinions section writers, David Hoffman, Molly Roberts and Robert Kagan, followed suit in September, with each naming the reason as frustration with the endorsement decision.

Opinion editor Amanda Katz and her deputy Charles Lane have also since gone, joined by columnist Jennifer Rubin. All left in January after lengthy, decorated tenures.

The paper’s White House Correspondent, Tyler Pager, had left in December, citing frustration with the paper’s trajectory. He announced he would be rejoining his old employer, The New York Times.

Meanwhile, since Bezos’s latest strategic shift, the Post has lost 75,000 digital subscribers.

More than 300,000 cancelled subscriptions later, the Amazon founder has confirmed he is ditching a traditional, 'broad-based opinion section that sought to cover all views'

More than 300,000 cancelled subscriptions later, the Amazon founder has confirmed he is ditching a traditional, ‘broad-based opinion section that sought to cover all views’

This comes after a round of layoffs that went into effect after most of the opinion staffers’ exits.

The section, historically, has been read by figures ranging from JPMorgan’s Jamie Dimon to conservative author George F. Will.

As the new approach to the page was announced, Bezos revealed the Post’s longtime editorial page editor, David Shipley, was also leaving as a result.