Washington Post backs out of 'Fire Elon Musk' ad order
The Washington Post this week backed out of a “Fire Elon Musk” advertising order that was to run as a wrap on some of its Tuesday editions, according to the advocacy group Common Cause.
The group said it signed a $115,000 agreement with The Post to run the ad that would have covered the front and back page of the Tuesday paper as well as a full-page ad with the same theme inside the paper. It said it planned to purchase the ad in collaboration with the Southern Poverty Law Center Action Fund.
The ad’s design features a large picture of Musk with his head tilted back, laughing, along with a cutout image of the White House and large white text: “Who’s running this country: Donald Trump or Elon Musk?”
Lower down on the page it features smaller font text stating: “Since day one, Elon has created chaos and confusion and put our livelihoods at risk. And he is accountable to no one but himself.”
“The Constitution only allows for one president at a time. Call your senators and tell them it’s time Donald Trump fire Elon Musk,” it says, followed by the URL FireMusk.org.
Common Cause President Virginia Kase Solomón said The Post’s advertising sales representative was informed of the nature of the ad and seemed confident that running it over the paper wouldn’t be a problem.
The paper with the wrap ad was supposed to be delivered to subscribers at the Congress, Pentagon and the White House.
"We submitted the artwork back on Tuesday of last week. I’m assuming it went through a legal department or other kind of review. They said, ‘You can have something inside the paper but you can’t do the wrap.’ We said thanks, no thanks because we had a lot of questions,” Kase Solomón told The Hill.
Common Cause learned on Friday The Post would not run the outside-the-paper ad criticizing Musk.
“Is it because we’re critical of what’s happening with Elon Musk? Is it only ok to run things in The Post now that won’t anger the president or won’t have him calling Jeff Bezos asking why this was allowed,” she said, referring to The Post’s owner, who is also the founder of Amazon and the space company Blue Origin.
She said The Post did not provide an explanation for why it decided not to run the wrap ad.
A spokesperson for The Post declined to comment as the publication has a policy of not talking about internal decisions related to specific advertising campaigns.
The Post’s general guidelines for advertising state that advertisers are responsible for complying with applicable law and regulation for political advertising, including using any required disclaimers.
And while The Post accepts advertising on all points of view, it reserves the right to require substantiation of factual claims. And it requires that advertisers obtain “the requisite permissions” when using the names or likenesses of individuals.
Kase Solomón, the president of Common Cause, said the rejection of the wrap ad was a “surprise” because the sample art the group received from The Post to get a sense of what to expect from its ad was a wrap ad funded by the American Fuel & Petrochemical Manufacturers (AFPM) highlighting President Trump’s promise to “end the electric vehicle mandate on Day 1.”
It featured a large picture of the president flashing a thumbs up.
“They gave us some sample art to show us what it would look like,” she said. “It was a thank-you Donald Trump piece of art,” she said.
“It just causes concern for us. Are they fearful of his reaction?” she said of Trump.
She cited The Post’s decision not to make an endorsement in the 2024 presidential race and its decision not to run a cartoon showing caricatures of Bezos, Mickey Mouse and others offering bags of money to a large, statuesque Trump figure.
Kase Solomón said the planned $115,000 ad was a “huge” expenditure for her group. It had not previously taken out a wrap ad with The Post.
She said it was "a signed agreement" or a signed purchase order. Common Cause and the Southern Poverty Law Center Action Fund didn't pay anything since the ad didn't run.
"The account representative said this didn't raise any alarms but we would have to submit the artwork, obviously. But [over] the campaign itself they didn't raise any concerns that it would be something too inflammatory for them," she said.
Common Cause has organized thousands of calls to Congress and the White House raising concerns about Musk's role in reshaping the federal government. It has also collected 60,000 signatures on a petition protesting Musk.
Common Cause, the Southern Poverty Law Center Action Fund and End Citizens United launched the "Fire Elon Musk" campaign on Feb. 3.