In early 2023, with President Biden's reelection prospects looking shaky, some Democrats floated the idea of a celebrity primary challenger. One name that surfaced was Jeff Bezos, the Amazon founder, with the slogan "Make America Amazon." Now, that idea is back — this time with a twist.
On October 5, the Drudge Report teased a story about Bezos possibly running for president, linking to a Substack exclusive by Rob Shuter. Citing unnamed sources, Shuter reported that Bezos's wife, Lauren Sanchez Bezos, "loves the idea of President Bezos." After attending a White House state dinner for China's President Xi Jinping, she's reportedly grown fascinated with Washington. According to the source, Lauren sees Jeff as someone who has conquered business and space, and now wonders, "What's left?" — with the presidency being "the ultimate final act."
Lauren's influence shouldn't be underestimated. She transformed Bezos from a tech nerd into a celebrity, and with a fortune of $373 billion (second only to Elon Musk's $914 billion), money is no object.
Bezos certainly has the intellect and managerial chops for the job, and history shows prior elected office isn't required. But his corporate empire — Amazon, AWS, and Blue Origin — is deeply intertwined with the federal government. AWS holds billions in contracts, making it practically an arm of the state. A campaign would be self-funded, and Amazon's studios could produce ads, but there's a catch.
Bezos has recently embraced Trump, attending Mar-a-Lago and supporting the president's ventures. If he ran as a Republican and criticized Trump, he could lose lucrative government deals. If he ran as a Democrat, he'd face Trump's wrath from the White House. In 2019, Bezos lost a $10 billion Pentagon contract, allegedly due to Trump's vendetta over Washington Post coverage.
For now, Bezos remains powerful from outside the White House, but if he and Lauren decide to go for it, their slogan could be "It's Prime Time in America!"
