© Gary Cameron / Reuters
Jeff Bezos launched a counterattack on presumptive Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump late Wednesday, calling the reality-TV star’s actions “not an appropriate way for a presidential candidate to behave.” Trump has criticized The Washington Post and threatened Amazon—both owned by Bezos—in various formats. Trump has claimed that Amazon is “getting away with murder, tax-wise. [Bezos is] using The Washington Post for power so that the politicians in Washington don’t tax Amazon like they should be taxed.” In his response, Bezos noted that “a company like Amazon deserves to be scrutinized and criticized.” He added, “It’s critical that we be able to carefully examine our leaders.” Bezos also defended the freedom of the press. “The citizens of this country make decisions and they need information to make those decisions,” he said. “We want a society where any of us, any individual or institution, if they choose to, can scrutinize, examine, and criticize an elected official, especially a candidate for the highest office in the most powerful country on earth. It’s critical. What would be shocking and disturbing is if you weren’t doing that.”