The woke have turned on each other at the Washington Post in what must rank as the most entertaining story of last week.
The trouble began when reporter David Weigel retweeted a joke by YouTuber Cam Harless. Fox News has that story:
Washington Post reporter Felicia Sonmez put her paper on blast after one of her colleagues shared a tweet mocking women.
Sonmez shared a screenshot of a tweet written by YouTube host Cam Harless, who said, “Every girl is bi. You just have to figure out if it’s polar or sexual.”
That was retweeted by fellow reporter David Weigel.
“Fantastic to work at a news outlet where retweets like this are allowed!” Sonmez reacted.
Washington Post’s Chief Communications Officer Kris Coratti told Fox News, “Editors have made clear to the staff that the tweet was reprehensible and demanding language or actions like that will not be tolerated.”
Weigel also removed the retweet from his Twitter page and issued an apology.
“I just removed a retweet of an offensive joke. I apologise and did not mean to cause any harm,” Weigel wrote.
That apology wasn’t enough to save Weigel, who was duly suspended for one month last Monday. CNN has more on that story.
The Washington Post has suspended reporter David Weigel for one month without pay for retweeting a sexist joke, two people familiar with the matter told CNN on Monday.
Weigel did not respond to a request for comment, but an out-of-office reply from his Post email address said that he would return to work on July 5th. Weigel apologised publicly last week for the retweet, saying he “did not mean to cause any harm”.
A spokesperson for the Post declined to comment, citing a need for privacy regarding personnel matters.
Weigel’s retweet was spotlighted publicly by his colleague, Felicia Sonmez, who recently had a discrimination lawsuit against the paper dismissed, a decision her attorney has said she plans to appeal.