On June 6 (local time), The Washington Post’s reporter David Weigel was suspended for one month without pay for retweeting an allegedly sexist tweet. Weigel has removed the RT and issued an apology for the same. Interestingly, Weigel has a long history of publishing racist tweets targeting Indians, but no action was taken against him.
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
Weigel’s sexist RT that started a storm at WaPo
On June 3, Washington Post’s correspondent Felicia Sonmez posted a screenshot of the RT by Weigel. The tweet read, “Every girl is bi. You just have to figure out if it’s polar or sexual.” The “joke” was published by YouTuber Cam Harless. It essentially stated that all women are either mentally unwell or are bisexual.
NIHM says Bipolar is a mental disorder that causes unusual shifts in mood, energy, activity levels, concentration, and the ability to carry out day-to-day tasks. A Bisexual is a person who is sexually interested in both men and women.
Quoting the RT, Sonmez sarcastically said, “Fantastic to work at a news outlet where retweets like this are allowed.” Washington Post mentioned that Sonmez did not limit her reaction to Twitter but confronted Weigel on the internal Slack channel of the company. While questioning why the RT was done, she wrote it sent “a confusing message about what the Post’s values are.”
As more employees of WaPo chipped in on the internal channel, national editor Matea Gold stepped in and wrote, “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.” The issue was being discussed online as well, which prompted the company to issue an official statement.
Kris Coratti, chief spokesperson of the company, issued a statement and said, “Editors have made clear to the staff that the tweet was reprehensible and demeaning language or actions like that will not be tolerated.”
WaPo chief spox @kriscoratti issues statement on @daveweigel‘s retweet of a sexist joke, which he has since apologized for: “Editors have made clear to the staff that the tweet was reprehensible and demeaning language or actions like that will not be tolerated.”
— Oliver Darcy (@oliverdarcy) June 3, 2022
Sonmez continued to receive abuses on social media
Following the tweet by Sonmez pointing out the problematic tweet by her colleague Weigel, a storm of abuse found a way to her. She posted a long thread on June 6 (local time) with screenshots of the abusive tweets she was receiving in retaliation to the question she raised over the sexist tweet.
Simply objecting to a retweet of a sexist joke — and a colleague’s false accusation of “bullying” — leads to … this. https://t.co/odRB1KhDo6 pic.twitter.com/Uovdcdghk8
— Felicia Sonmez (@feliciasonmez) June 7, 2022
Sonmez was called a bitch, the face of the evil, a person with nazi tendencies, depressed, miserable, bully, toxic personality, and ironically ‘bipolar.’
Weigel’s racist tweets toward Indians
In May 2021, OpIndia reported how David Weigel had posted a hate-filled tweet toward Indians. In a now-deleted tweet, Weigel had said, “Got two scam calls today, and I swear to God, my first thought was, “this is good, covid-19 cases in India must be low enough for people to go back to the office.” Weigel implied that Indians are the ones who make ‘scam calls’ to the people residing in the US.
When he was called out for the tweets targeting Indians, he went on a blocking spree. It is noteworthy that WaPo has a long history of having anti-India reporters on board which include columnists like Rana Ayyub.
