Washington Post suspends political reporter for ‘sexist’ retweet

A political reporter at the Washington Post has been suspended after he retweeted a ‘sexist’ joke that said ‘Every girl is bi. You just have to figure out if it’s polar or sexual.’

David Weigel was suspended for one month without pay after he retweeted YouTuber Cam Harless, CNN reported. 

The suspension is the latest in the ongoing drama at The Post which forced executive editor Sally Buzbee to send a memo on Sunday that reminded staffers ‘to treat each other with respect and kindness both in the newsroom and online.’

Conservative activist Christopher Rufo jumped at the chance to criticize the newspaper this weekend, slamming it for a report it did on him last year. At the end of the Twitter thread, he wrote: ‘Democracy dies when the media lies.’ 

Musk replied to the tweet with: ‘There are still some great journalists at WaPo, but the trend is super bad.’

This week, the Washington Post suspended political reporter David Weigel for one month without pay after he retweeted a ‘sexist’ joke

Weigel retweeted a ‘sexist’ joke by Cam Harless that read, ‘Every girl is bi. You just have to figure out if it’s polar or sexual.’ He has since been suspended

Elon Musk wrote that the Washington Post still has great journalists but the ‘trend is super bad’ in a tweet Monday responding to Christopher Rufo, who spouted criticism of the newspaper

Musk replied with: ‘There are still some great journalists at WaPo, but the trend is super bad’

Weigel’s retweet was spotlighted by his colleague Felicia Sonmez who tweeted that it is ‘fantastic to work at a news outlet where retweets like this are allowed.’ 

Sonmez then confronted Weigel on the company’s Slack channel, according to CNN, tagged him and wrote ‘I’m sorry but what is this?’

Several people joined the discussion on Slack which prompted national editor Matea Gold to step in with, ‘I just want to assure all of you that The Post is committed to maintaining a respectful workplace for everyone. We do not tolerate demeaning language or actions.’

Kris Coratti, chief spokesperson for The Post, issued a statement that read, ‘Editors have made clear to the staff that the tweet was reprehensible and demeaning language or actions like that will not be tolerated.’ 

Weigel has apologized for the retweet, saying he ‘did not mean to cause any harm.’

But the tension remains at the Washington Post, which is evident in back and forth Twitter feuds between employees. 

Washington Post reporter Jose A. Del Real responded to Sonmez’s initial tweet, stating that Weigel’s tweet was ‘terrible and unacceptable, but rallying the internet to attack him for a mistake he made doesn’t actually solve anything. We all mess up in some way or another. There is such a thing as challenging with compassion.’

Sonmez responded: ‘calling out sexism isn’t “cruelty”, but something that is ‘absolutely necessary.’

The two continued their feud until Del Real temporarily deactivated his account. He reactivated it on Sunday after Sally Buzbee, executive editor of The Post, sent a memo to staffers ‘to treat each other with respect and kindness both in the newsroom and online.’

‘The Washington Post is committed to an inclusive and respectful environment free of harassment, discrimination or bias of any sort,’ Buzbee wrote. ‘When issues arise, please raise them with leadership or human resources and we will address them promptly and firmly.’ 

Following the statement, Del Real then tweeted that he had faced ‘an unrelenting series of attacks intended to tarnish my professional and personal reputation.’

Sonmez accused him of making ‘false accusations and mischaracterizations’ in his statement. 

Breanna Muir, video technician for the Post, then responded to Buzbee’s email with a tweet that showed that Micah Gelman, the head of the video team, had once misidentified her as ‘Breanna Taylor.’

‘If the Washington Post is committed to an inclusive and respectful environment free of harassment, discrimination or bias of any sort, then can someone please help me understand Micah Gelman and David Weigel’s tweets/rts?’ Muir tweeted.

‘These tweets/rts not only hurt women in our newsroom but make it extremely difficult to do our best work,’ Muir wrote. ‘Ultimately, it creates a toxic work environment.’

Gelman had previously apologized to Muir for misidentifying her, CNN reported. A statement was also released by the company stating that Gelman ‘apologized both publicly and privately for his mistake.’

Rufo had slammed the newspaper for a report it did on him last year and brought up the latest drama surrounding tech columnist Taylor Lorenz

Rufo’s Twitter thread grabbed the attention of Musk who appeared to agree with him

Amid the ongoing drama at The Post, Rufo slammed the newspaper on Sunday for a report it did on him last year and brought up the latest drama surrounding tech columnist Taylor Lorenz. 

‘Taylor Lorenz is the rule, not the exception, at the Washington Post,’ Rufo wrote on Twitter on Sunday. 

‘Last year, the paper ran a hit piece against me and had to retract or add six full paragraphs, admit to fabricating a timeline, and reverse a key accusation, which I proved was false.’

‘The editors then tried to hide their errors through stealth edits and a completely misleading ‘clarification.’ Washington Post writers are grim and talentless mercenaries for the regime and have polluted a once-respected newspaper with smears, propaganda, and lies.’

‘Democracy dies when the media lies,’ he added. 

Musk appeared to agree with Rufo with his response that ‘the trend is super bad.’

Musk replied to Rufo’s tweet on Monday, saying that the ‘trend is super bad’

Lorenz, an ‘internet culture’ columnist for the Washington Post, was forced to walk back a claim that she was being ‘relentlessly harassed’ by an editor at Drudge Report – just hours after making the accusation in May.

She tweeted that an editor for Drudge Report had been ‘calling and texting me relentlessly for the past couple of weeks.’

She also wrote that the editor then ‘called my personal cellphone number, yelled at me when I asked him to leave me alone and said he would “blast my name all over Drudge Report until it ruins my career,”‘ in now-deleted tweets, according to FOX News.

But when Oliver Darcy, a senior media editor for CNN, contacted founder Matt Drudge, he said that he ‘never contacted her, nor has anyone associated with Drudge Report.’

He added that he sent Lorenz an email asking for correction – and when she received the request she deleted her tweets about the alleged harassment and posted a clarification.

‘For anyone who saw my post abt this man claiming to be from Drudge calling me nonstop, good news: I heard from Matt Drudge and this man has zero power over Drudge.

‘He’s claiming to be an editor all over the Internet, but he’s not,’ she tweeted, adding: ‘Sorry to disappoint everyone saying Drudge is based.’

Washington Post columnist Taylor Lorenz, left, had accused an editor at the Drudge Report of harassing her online, but after founder Matt Drudge, right, asked for a correction she deleted her tweets

In a statement from the Washington Post, a spokesman clarified: ‘Taylor was repeatedly contacted by someone who claimed to be a Drudge editor.

‘As soon as she learned the person had no connection to the Drudge Report, she deleted the original tweet, and wrote a tweet apologizing for her comment.

The newspaper was forced to issue more corrections last week when Lorenz’s story about the Johnny Depp-Amber Heard trial wrongly claimed she had reached out to two YouTubers for comment, Fox News reported.