On Wednesday, The Washington Post ran cover for Colombian President Gustavo Petro, a self-described radical and former FARC member, in yet another softball interview of a leftist politician. Talk about democracy dying in darkness.
The interview, conducted by Post heiress and Hamptons socialite, Lally Weymouth, serves as a prime example of the legacy media shielding Latin American leftist leaders. Most importantly, the interview marked a stark contrast to The Post’s treatment of Republicans.
During the friendly sit-down, Weymouth strayed from delving into politically damning details of a corruption scandal embroiling the Petro family. She wouldn’t even press the leader about the influx of Colombian nationals and the increase of drugs at the southern border, which some Republicans have referred to as a foreign "invasion."
Weymouth acknowledged the presence of drug cartels in Colombia, but Petro's explanation that the FARC was involved in growing coca leaves went unchallenged. “There are drug cartels in Colombia,” Weymouth said (duh!), to which Petro answered, “Obviously.”
Later on, Petro shifted the blame to American consumers for the increase in drug smuggling without further questioning.
Concerning the rising crime rates and the declining popularity of the Petro regime in Colombia, Petro claimed, with no evidence, that violence had been contained.
Weymouth, who had previously interviewed world leaders, did not offer any follow-up to Petro’s falsehoods. It has been widely reported that Petro’s soft-on-crime policies ignited a wave of insecurity in the populace throughout the South American country.
The Post’s readers, of course, would not know this.
When discussing Petro's endorsement of far-left politics and his desire for “radical transformation” in Colombia, Weymouth failed to connect this political shift with the surge in illegal migration to the U.S. southern border from Colombia, which saw a significant increase in border encounters in recent years.
Notably, border encounters of Colombians skyrocketed from 6,200 in FY 2021 to 125,000 in FY 2022, according to the Migration Policy Institute. As of July 2023, DHS had apprehended approximately 126,000 in the first eight months of FY 2023.
Weymouth could have easily gone down this road with Petro, but she kept readers in the dark.
Finally, Weymouth touched on the indictment of Petro's son, Nicolás Petro, who faces federal charges related to alleged bribes from convicted drug traffickers. Instead of asking if Petro was aware of the allegations, Weymouth asked (or rather stated) that Petro had claimed not to interfere in the investigation, to which Petro humorously agreed.
Perhaps this dull interview came as no surprise to some, given The Post’s willingness to turn a blind eye to similarly damning allegations marring President Joe Biden and his embattled son, Hunter.
Earlier this month, fellow Post liberal journalist Philip Bump came under fire for snapping when pressed about why his employer has refused to cover the Biden bribery allegations. “I have no idea what that means,” a dismissive bump responded to allegations that Hunter had paid his father “50% of [his] income.”
