The Washington Post suspended reporter Dave Weigel for a month without pay Monday for recently retweeting a joke about women.
Weigel received backlash Friday after retweeting a post by YouTuber Cam Harless that said, “Every girl is bi. You just have to figure out if its polar or sexual.” The retweet received criticism from the Post’s chief spokeswoman, Kristine Coratti Kelly, who called the tweet “reprehensible and demeaning.”
“Editors have made clear to the staff that the tweet was reprehensible and demeaning language or actions like that will not be tolerated,” she said, according to CNN.
Weigel will return to the office on July 5, an out-of-office email sent to CNN said.
The political reporter removed the retweet following his colleagues’ reactions and apologized via Twitter.
“I just removed a retweet of an offensive joke,” he tweeted Friday. “I apologize and did not mean to cause any harm.”
The Washington Post declined to comment and Weigel did not respond to the Daily Caller’s request for comment.
Washington Post national political reporter Felicia Sonmez shared a screenshot of the retweet and appeared to make a sarcastic remark about the Post allowing their employees to repost offensive jokes.
“Fantastic to work at a news outlet where retweets like this are allowed!” she tweeted.
Journalists and liberal podcast host Amy Siskind criticized Weigel despite his apology.
“You are still misogynistic trash,” Siskind said. “Can’t believe [The Washington Post] still employs someone with such deep-seated sexist beliefs. Definitely clouds his ability to report unbiased facts.”
“Retweeted by a majority-represented political correspondent of the Washington Post. I’ve seen similar in the UK. A minority journalist, monitored ferociously by certain colleagues, would not get away with it,” BBC reporter Megha Mohan wrote.
This is an excerpt from the Daily Caller.
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