Trump’s Tweet Attacking ‘Jeff Bozo’ and Hailing National Enquirer Shocks Twitter: ‘We Are All So Screwed’
President Donald Trump was all alone in the White House this weekend and on a Twitter bender. Eventually — it was inevitable — he arrived at a regular target of his ire, Jeff Bezos, the billionaire owner of Amazon and the Washington Post who is set to divorce from his wife of 25 years.
“So sorry to hear the news about Jeff Bozo being taken down by a competitor whose reporting, I understand, is far more accurate than the reporting in his lobbyist newspaper, the Amazon Washington Post,” Trump wrote. “Hopefully the paper will soon be placed in better & more responsible hands!”
The “competitor” Trump is referring to is the National Enquirer, the gossip rag that obtained salacious texts between Bezos and former TV anchor Lauren Sanchez, which prompted the billionaire to release a statement about his separation from his wife MacKenzie Bezos.
Of course, the National Enquirer is also renowned for its coziness with Trump: its publisher AMI admitted to arranging hush money payments to former Playboy model Karen McDougal during the 2016 campaign to keep her quiet about an alleged affair with the president, and CEO David Pecker received immunity from prosecutors in exchange for providing information on Trump.
So there was a lot to dissect in this Sunday night Trump tweet: “Jeff Bozo”; his wild claim that the National Enquirer is more accurate than the Washington Post; his suggestion that the paper be sold. Twitter reacted:
The competitor he’s referring to is the National Enquirer, which was known for “catch and kill” operations in support of Trump and which was implicated in the Cohen case in SDNY. https://t.co/Uc5FyvORin
— Maggie Haberman (@maggieNYT) January 14, 2019
The president again attacks Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos, who recently announced a divorce from his wife, over his ownership of The Washington Post. Trump often lashes out at Bezos/Amazon because out of anger over the Post’s rigorous coverage of his administration. https://t.co/HBPNbausJa
— Steven Overly (@StevenOverly) January 14, 2019
Our juvenile, petty, and vindictive president touts the National Enquirer… https://t.co/Uu0WZyvQF2
— Charlie Sykes (@SykesCharlie) January 14, 2019
Trump praising the reporting of the National Enquirer, whose publisher has admitted to coordinating w/the Trump campaign to arrange hush money for an ex-Playboy model in 2016. Its CEO received immunity in exchange for telling prosecutors about Trump’s involvement in the scheme. https://t.co/JuYLcwHMGA
— Rebecca Ballhaus (@rebeccaballhaus) January 14, 2019
If there was a real “national emergency” at our border would the President be sitting alone in the White House sending tweets making fun of people? NO. Because we don’t have a national emergency at the border.
But we do have a national embarrassment at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue. https://t.co/6jYgTabH2v
— Ted Lieu (@tedlieu) January 14, 2019
The Enquirer flipped on Trump, but he hasn’t flipped on the Enquirer https://t.co/pRYoEsSHEx
— Brian Stelter (@brianstelter) January 14, 2019
No, this isn’t a parody account… this is the President of the United States. #JeffBozo https://t.co/ZOCPbD43p7
— Josh Jordan (@NumbersMuncher) January 14, 2019
The tweet where the President of the United States called the **National Enquirer** a more accurate newspaper than the Washington Post.
And that’s going to be the second most talked about part of the tweet after Jeff Bozo. We are all so screwed. https://t.co/ZOCPbD43p7
— Josh Jordan (@NumbersMuncher) January 14, 2019
Trump has never quite made the transition from being a Howard Stern guest to being president. But the thing is: A lot of the country likes it. Who knows what the term “presidential” even means anymore? https://t.co/5BF3K1f05S
— Jay Nordlinger (@jaynordlinger) January 14, 2019
Just the president gloating about the exposure of an extramarital affair involving the owner of a news organization whose coverage he dislikes. NBD. https://t.co/hCx3ZUHjOa
— Niall Stanage (@NiallStanage) January 14, 2019
Trump praising the National Enquirer who conspired with Trump to pay off his alleged mistresses before the election — a felony violation of campaign laws, according to federal prosecutors #BeBest https://t.co/eceDzui0be
— Judd Legum (@JuddLegum) January 14, 2019
A lot to unpack in this one.
— Olivia Nuzzi (@Olivianuzzi) January 14, 2019
oh my https://t.co/9JAY9wnDD8
— Betsy Klein (@betsy_klein) January 14, 2019
— Jon Nicosia (@NewsPolitics) January 14, 2019
So much going on here that I missed “Jeff Bozo” on the first read https://t.co/WqigUvZ0pA
— Josh Billinson (@jbillinson) January 14, 2019
Today was the day the president called the National Enquirer a better newspaper than the Washington Post. pic.twitter.com/VOKaw500Vq
— Daniel Dale (@ddale8) January 14, 2019
Truly this is the day he became president. https://t.co/2xvkAY2GYo
— Matthew Gertz (@MattGertz) January 14, 2019
Just wow pic.twitter.com/Z74bHbXJVk
— Evan Siegfried (@evansiegfried) January 14, 2019
years that have gone by without anyone saying the word “bozo”: 1̶,̶0̶0̶0̶… 0 pic.twitter.com/Z2z1l1MdVj
— siraj hashmi (@SirajAHashmi) January 14, 2019
The President of the United States:https://t.co/0x8lEcHrcF
— Jeffrey Goldberg (@JeffreyGoldberg) January 14, 2019
Yet even amidst a torrent of Twitter users baffled by Trump’s incoherent musings, his most blindly loyal supporters remained steadfast:
The past several months have been tough for the Big Tech oligopoly–we can only hope this year that their menacing concentration of economic and political power will be significantly, dramatically reduced and controlled. #MAGA #AmericaFirst #Dobbs https://t.co/sPtxzsegp5
— Lou Dobbs (@LouDobbs) January 14, 2019
[Photo by Ludovic Marin/AFP/Getty Images]
