Ann Telnaes, a cartoonist who has worked for The Washington Post since 2008, on Saturday announced that she would be quitting the newspaper after a cartoon she drew making fun of billionaires – including Jeff Bezos, the owner of the Post – lining up before US President-elect Donald Trump was rejected.

“I have had editorial feedback and productive conversations—and some differences—about cartoons I have submitted for publication, but in all that time I’ve never had a cartoon killed because of who or what I chose to aim my pen at. Until now,” she wrote on her Substack page.

The others billionaires in the cartoon included Mark Zuckerberg, OpenAI’s Sam Altman and Los Angeles Times publisher Patrick Soon-Shiong.

“To be clear, there have been instances where sketches have been rejected or revisions requested, but never because of the point of view inherent in the cartoon’s commentary. That’s a game changer…and dangerous for a free press,” Telnaes wrote.

She provided an argument for why she was quitting.

“There will be people who say, “Hey, you work for a company and that company has the right to expect employees to adhere to what’s good for the company”. That’s true except we’re talking about news organisations that have public obligations and who are obliged to nurture a free press in a democracy. Owners of such press organisations are responsible for safeguarding that free press— and trying to get in the good graces of an autocrat-in-waiting will only result in undermining that free press,” she wrote.

“As an editorial cartoonist, my job is to hold powerful people and institutions accountable. For the first time, my editor prevented me from doing that critical job,” she added.