President Trump on Sunday encouraged Washington Post employees to go on strike, saying the move would mean getting rid of “Fake News for an extended period of time.”
“Washington Post employees want to go on strike because Bezos isn’t paying them enough. I think a really long strike would be a great idea,” Trump tweeted, referencing Jeff Bezos, the Post’s owner and CEO of Amazon. “Employees would get more money and we would get rid of Fake News for an extended period of time!”
{mosads}He also renewed his previous inaccurate claim that the Post is a “registered lobbyist.”
Trump’s tweet came shortly after the Post reported that former Trump campaign adviser Roger Stone met with a Russian national who offered dirt on Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton in exchange for $2 million during the 2016 election.
More than 400 Washington Post employees signed an open letter to Bezos on Thursday, asking for fair wages and benefits “from someone who believes democracy dies in darkness.”
“All we are asking for is fairness for each and every employee who contributed to this company’s success: fair wages; fair benefits for retirement, family leave and health care; and a fair amount of job security,” the letter reads.
Post employees had widely shared the excerpts on social media, tweeting calls for Bezos to reexamine employee pay and benefits, but did not mention a possible strike in the letter.
Trump has long blasted the Post as “fake news” and has long attacked Amazon and Bezos.
The Post and Amazon are two separate businesses and operate independently of one another.