The Washington Post has apparently backed out of running a “Fire Elon Musk” advertisement that was paid for and set to run on Tuesday, according to advocacy group Common Cause.
The organization told The Hill on Sunday that it had signed a $115,000 deal with WaPo to run its anti-Musk ad on the front and back pages of its Tuesday paper, along with a full-page ad inside. The ad was purchased and planned in collaboration with the Southern Poverty Law Center Action Fund.
The ad buy included the following message: “Since day one, Elon has created chaos and confusion and put our livelihoods at risk. And he is accountable to no one but himself.”
It continued, “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 ad then said readers can get more details at FireMusk.org.
When reached for comment, a WaPo spokesperson pointed TheWrap to the outlet’s Advertising Guidelines.
Those guidelines include a rule on the “use of names/likeness of individuals,” which said “when advertising uses the names or likeness of individuals, The Post requires that the advertiser obtain the requisite permissions.”
Common Cause president Virginia Kase Solomón said WaPo leadership did not give a reason as to why the ad was canceled. The news comes comes as Musk and his Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) team is cutting billions of dollars from the federal bureaucracy.
The X owner recently said he is aiming to cut $1 trillion-$2 trillion in annual government spending. That aggressive goal would represent up to 30% of annual spending, after the federal government spent $6.75 trillion in 2024.
At the same time, some of President Donald Trump’s critics have chided him for Musk’s role within his administration — and Time magazine ran a cover earlier this month with Musk sitting behind his desk.
However, President Trump has said Musk “can’t do and won’t do” anything that does not receive his administration’s approval.
“They want a divorce, they want you two to start hating each other,” Sean Hannity told Trump and Musk in a preview clip of an interview that is set to run on Tuesday night.
Trump, in response, joked he was going to post a message that he was handing control over to “President Musk,” before saying his critics are “so bad” at trying to derail him.
Kase Solomón told The Hill that WaPo’s ad team had received the anti-Musk ad and its artwork last week, but that it was not canceled until Friday. Kase Solomón speculated it could be because WaPo owner Jeff Bezos wanted to avoid getting an earful from President Trump about the ad.
“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.
She added: “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.”
Musk is a key target of Common Cause’s right now. When you visit the organization’s website, an ad asking for donations to “Fire Elon Musk” immediately pops up.
Common Cause’s website added that Musk is “hurting the American people” by trying to run the government like a business.
“Even more concerning is that President Donald Trump is allowing it to happen,” Common Cause said. “It’s time to say enough and FIRE Elon Musk from any role within our government.”
The organization describes itself as a “nonpartisan, grassroots organization dedicated to upholding the core values of American democracy” on its website.
