Trump hits Washington Post with FEC complaint in escalating battle with press
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The Washington Post office in Washington, D.C., on June 27. Photo: Ting Shen/Bloomberg via Getty Images
Former President Trump filed a complaint with the Federal Election Commission Thursday alleging that the Washington Post illegally contributed to Vice President Harris' campaign.
Why it matters: In the final days of the close election, Trump is targeting the media over routine practices by news outlets.
- Trump's team said in its complaint that an ad campaign highlighting the Post's critical coverage of the former president amounted to "illegal corporate in-kind contributions and unreported last-minute independent expenditures."
Driving the news: Trump's complaint follows a Semafor report that The Washington Post paid to boost stories on social media platforms that spotlighted its critical coverage of the Republican candidate.
- The Post's move followed its decision to stop endorsing presidential candidates ahead of this month's election.
- The paper subsequently lost at least 250,000 subscribers.
The big picture: Trump has repeatedly raged against the media this election for critical coverage of him, his legal troubles and his campaign.
- On Thursday Trump filed a $10 billion lawsuit against CBS News, alleging that Harris' "60 Minutes" interview was election interference intended to "tip the scales" toward Democrats.
- Trump has previously demanded the Federal Communications Commission strip CBS of its broadcasting license over the Harris interview.
- He's also demanded ABC lose its broadcast privileges for fact checking him during the September presidential debate, which the FCC rejected.
- Trump in 2023 accused NBC of treason for reporting on his various legal troubles.
What they're saying: The Post "reportedly is conducting a dark money corporate campaign in opposition to President Donald J. Trump—pretextually using its own online advertising efforts to promote Kamala Harris's presidential candidacy," the complaint said.
- Trump's team said the Post is not shielded from an existing press exemption because it acted like "any other partisan player in the election process."
- Trump called for an FEC investigation and "appropriate sanction for this corporate interference in our elections."
The other side: "As part of The Washington Post's regular social media marketing strategy, promoted posts across social media platforms reflect high-performing content across all verticals and subjects," a Washington Post spokesperson told Axios.
- "We believe allegations suggesting this routine media practice is improper are without merit."
State of play: The Post and owner Jeff Bezos received criticism from readers and editorial board members for announcing the endorsement decision so close to the election.
- The articles subsequently boosted on social media included criticism of Trump's campaign rhetoric and false claims, per Semafor. Articles about Harris were more neutral in tone.
Go deeper: Trump's closing strategy: Make a splash and attack
