The Washington Post has backed out of accepting an ad campaign aimed at questioning whether Elon Musk were running the country instead of President Donald Trump.
Common Cause, which describes itself as "a nonpartisan, grassroots organization dedicated to upholding the core values of American democracy," had planned to run an ad asking, "Who's running this country: Donald Trump or Elon Musk?"
The advocacy group said the ad was to run as a wrap on some of the Post’s Tuesday editions this week, but it learned Friday the ad would not run as expected, The Hill reported Sunday night.
"Jeff Bezos' Washington Post didn’t want you to see our ad questioning who’s in charge of this White House. We won't stop holding power accountable," Common Cause posted on X with an image of the ad, showing an oversized Musk laughing over the White House.
Musk and the Department of Government Efficiency, tasked by Trump to find financial waste, abuse, and fraud in the bureaucracy, have been targets for Democrats.
Common Cause shared an ad image that said, "No One Elected Elon Musk," and included the FireMusk.org website address.
"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 ad says in small text.
"The Constitution only allows for one president at a time. Call your senators and tell them it’s time Donald Trump fire Elon Musk."
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, The Hill reported.
Common Cause told the outlet it planned to purchase the ad in collaboration with the Southern Poverty Law Center Action Fund.
The newspaper with the wrap ad was supposed to be delivered to subscribers at the Congress, Pentagon and the White House, The Hill said.
"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," Common Cause President Virginia Kase Solomón told the outlet.
Common Cause was founded in 1970 by John Gardner, a Republican who served in President Lyndon B. Johnson’s Cabinet.
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Charlie McCarthy, a writer/editor at Newsmax, has nearly 40 years of experience covering news, sports, and politics.
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