Washington Post Runs Trump-Bashing Piece from ‘Professional Clown’ After Bezos Vowed to Restore ‘Credibility’

The Washington Post published an editorial by a “professional clown” Thursday morning, presenting the author as an expert on the competence of the Trump administration — just months after the paper’s owner, billionaire oligarch Jeff Bezos, vowed to restore the publication’s “credibility.”

“I’m a clown. Donald Trump is not one of us,” the piece‘s headline says, flanked by a photo of author Tim Cunningham — “the board president of Clowns Without Borders” — wearing a red nose and posing in a veil of floating bubbles.

Cunningham’s article chastises political pundits for using “clown” as a pejorative for Trump and his Cabinet, because clowning is a noble and “sacred art form.” “Real clowns bring joy to the world, not chaos to Washington,” it proclaims in its subheading.

The piece is chock full of groan-worthy lines, closing with a call to action that casually asserts the Trump administration is “fascist”:

“I have performed as a professional clown for 24 years. Clown, capital C, is a valuable and varied art form.”

“Clown demands years, if not a lifetime, of study.”

“Clown is not an invention of the modern era; several ancient Indigenous cultures revere a sacred clown figure.”

“All Clown shares the common values of healing, empathy and reflection.”

“This area of Clown is called ‘humanitarian clowning,’ which Clowns Without Borders has specialized in for more than 30 years.”

“Our joyful work has been diminished into an insult.”

“Let’s find a better metaphor to despise and depose fascism.”

Social media users instantly and roundly mocked the Post’s decision to publish a clown expert to comment on politics.

This embarrassment comes less than a year since Amazon founder Jeff Bezos promised to rehabilitate the reputation of the Post, which he bought in 2013.

Bezos contributed an op-ed to the Post days before the 2024 election conceding that trust in media is declining for legitimate reasons. “We must work harder to control what we can control to increase our credibility,” he wrote. “While I do not and will not push my personal interest, I will also not allow this paper to stay on autopilot and fade into irrelevance — overtaken by unresearched podcasts and social media barbs — not without a fight. It’s too important. The stakes are too high. Now more than ever the world needs a credible, trusted, independent voice.”

Almost nine months after that high-minded vow to reform the paper, the Washington Post has decided to send in the clowns.