This sort of reminds me of the arguments over using racial diversity in university admissions. Using race as the main decider for admissions is certainly discriminatory, and would lead to the admission of unqualified candidates, but there is nothing wrong with considering racial diversity when selecting among many equally qualified candidates.
If her cartoons were not top notch she wouldn’t have won, regardless of her other actions, but given that…
It is not unreasonable to choose the one who took a stand against censorship at significant personal sacrifice.
I would also reiterate what others have said that this isn’t about politics or at least not directly. It only political is politically tinged because one of the parties is attempting to pressure the press. If this happened 4 years ago and it was Biden was pressuring Bezos it would still be in the Pulizter’s interest to honor her.
There’s absolutely no indication this is what happened. The award is for excellence and work which made an impact.
Someone else got the same prize for photos of the Trump assassination attempt - the iconic photos of his bleeding with his fist up, his shoes left behind, and more. Was it awarded because it was praising Trump?