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Jeff Bezos
Amazon founder and CEO Jeff Bezos said that Donald Trump is "eroding our democracy" during an interview at Vanity Fair's New Establishment Summit on Thursday.
Bezos expressed concern over the Republican nominee's accusations of mainstream media bias, threats to lock up Hillary Clinton, and refusal to accept the outcome of the presidential election if he doesn't win.
"Saying that he may not give a graceful concession speech if he loses the election, that erodes our democracy around the edges," he said. "Saying that he may lock up his opponent erodes our democracy around the edges."
When Trump attacked The Washington Post's reporting on his taxes, Bezos (who owns The Post) jokingly tweeted that he would reserve Trump a seat on his Blue Origin company's next rocket to space.
Now, he wishes he had taken Trump's opposition more seriously from the beginning.
"One of the things that makes this country as amazing as it is, we are allowed to criticize and scrutinize our elected leaders," he said on Thursday.
"An appropriate thing for a presidential candidate to do is say, 'I am running for the highest office in the world, please scrutinize me,'" he said. "That's not what we've seen. To try and chill the media and threaten retribution and retaliation, which is what he's done in a number of cases, it just isn't appropriate."
Disclosure: Jeff Bezos is an investor in Business Insider through hispersonal investment company Bezos Expeditions.