Jeff Bezos at Museum of Flight
Jeff Bezos talks with students at the opening of the “Apollo” exhibit at the Museum of Flight earlier this month in Seattle. (GeekWire Photo / Kevin Lisota)

Hillary Clinton thinks Jeff Bezos saved The Washington Post.

The former presidential candidate spent more than an hour on stage at Recode’s Code Conference Wednesday, as Recode’s Kara Swisher and Walt Mossberg asked Clinton about everything from the Russians to fake news on social media.

The topic of Bezos buying The Washington Post for $250 million in 2013 came up, and Clinton had high praise for the Amazon CEO’s decision to acquire, and in her words, “save” the newspaper.

“I think a lot of people, a lot of his peers and friends, thought — why would you buy this ancient medium called a newspaper?” Clinton said. “But newspapers like the Post, the Journal, the Times, a few others, still drive news. It drives news online and drives news on TV.”

Clinton said it was “a very good use of his financial resources because now we have a very good newspaper again operating in Washington, and driving news elsewhere and doing white water-level investigations.”

Clinton also noted that Bezos, from what she’s heard, has been “hands-off on the editorial and content front,” allowing reporters and editors to “get out there and do investigations.”

“And they’re doing some of the best investigations about what’s going on with the White House now,” Clinton said.

Since Bezos bought the Post, it has reportedly invested more than $50 million in digital and newsroom plans, including hiring more journalists and software engineers.

According to a December memo from Washington Post CEO Fred Ryan to his staff, the Post is “profitable and growing.

You can watch the full Recode interview here, or below.

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