Amazon founder Jeff Bezos, who also owns the Washington Post, avoided any talk of President-elect Trump while attending an awards ceremony Thursday night in Washington, D.C.
Bezos was in the city to accept a Smithsonian American Ingenuity Award “for his historic achievement in aviation and space exploration.”
The @washingtonpost, which loses a fortune, is owned by @JeffBezos for purposes of keeping taxes down at his no profit company, @amazon.
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) December 7, 2015
At the Smithsonian National Portrait Gallery, where the ceremony took place, walked the red carpet, but ignored a shouted question about Trump’s repeated criticism of the Post’s coverage.
Later on, the Washington Examiner asked him what he thought about Trump’s aggressive attacks on his paper.
“I’m just here with my parents to have fun at this event,” Bezos said.
Trump and Bezos have a history of publicly criticizing each other. In late 2015, seemingly unsatisfied with the Post’s coverage of his campaign, Trump began attacking the paper and its owner.
“The Washington Post, which loses a fortune, is owned by Jeff Bezos for purposes of keeping taxes down at his no profit company, Amazon,” Trump said on Twitter.
In another tweet, he said, “The Washington Post is going out of its way to tell failing candidates how to beat Donald Trump. The Post doesn’t get that I’m good at winning!”
Bezos responded with a reference to his space travel project.
“Finally trashed by Donald Trump,” said Bezos on Twitter. “Will still reserve him a seat on the Blue Origin rocket. #SendDonaldToSpace.”
At a Vanity Fair conference in October, Bezos said Trump’s comments on Twitter and his campaign rhetoric “erodes democracy around the edges.”
