Washington Post political reporter David Weigel retweeted an account that made an “offensive” joke at the expense of women, prompting a colleague to complain on Twitter. Now the tweet has been deleted.
Weigel started the kerfuffle by retweeting – that is, to share someone’s post without adding a comment – the following joke: “Every girl is bi. You just have to figure out if it’s polar or sexual.”
Soon, Washington Post colleague Felicia Sonmez, a fellow political reporter, took issue with the statement. “Fantastic to work at a news outlet where retweets like this are allowed,” said Sonmez, sarcastically, in an apparent bid to force her bosses at the Post to put a stop to Weigel’s enjoyment of politically incorrect humor.
Fantastic to work at a news outlet where retweets like this are allowed! pic.twitter.com/zs4dX4qprH
— Felicia Sonmez (@feliciasonmez) June 3, 2022
The move appears to have been a success. Weigel apologized for sharing the joke in a subsequent tweet posted less than an hour ago.
“I just removed a retweet of an offensive joke,” said the professional journalist who works for one of the nation’s largest publications. “I apologize and did not mean to cause any harm.”
I just removed a retweet of an offensive joke. I apologize and did not mean to cause any harm.
— David Weigel (@daveweigel) June 3, 2022
The apology was not accepted by many of the people in Weigel’s mentions.
“Yes you did” mean to cause harm, wrote a man with the Canadian, Ukrainian, LGBT, and transgender flags in his name. “It wasn’t an accident. You intended to retweet a joke that trivializes sexual orientation and mental health. You meant to do harm.”
“Next time consider ‘I apologize for the harm I have caused,'” the Twitter user added.
Yes you did. It wasn't an accident. You intended to retweet a joke that trivializes sexual orientation and mental health. You meant to do harm. You just didn't mean to get in trouble for it.
Next time consider "I apologize for the harm I have caused."
— Brendan Insley 🇨🇦🇺🇦🏳️🌈🏳️⚧️ (@brendaninsley) June 3, 2022
A second user complained that Weigel wasn’t “really” showing “contrition” and may encourage his “followers” to “think everyone else is too uptight.”
Another was more damning in their pronouncement.
“So you shared it with your 600k followers because you thought it was funny, and since nothing about you has changed, you’re just deleting because you got blowback,” wrote a Twitter account ostensibly dedicated to whiskey and music, “but you still hold the same attitude”.
So you shared it with your 600k followers because you thought it was funny, and since nothing about you has changed, you’re just deleting because you got blowback… but you still hold the same attitude
— ScotchBourbonGuitars (@GuitarsScotch) June 3, 2022
