The Washington Post came Thursday to the defense of a reporter who tweeted the leftist taunt “Merry Impeachmas” with a photo showing the newspaper’s smiling congressional team celebrating over dinner after the House vote to impeach President Trump.
“The reporter who sent out this ill-considered tweet was celebrating being off the clock after a long day covering impeachment,” said Kristine Coratti Kelly, Post vice president of communications, in an email. “She wasn’t celebrating impeachment.”
Reporter Rachael Bade quickly deleted the tweet, saying her message had been “misinterpreted,” after the Trump campaign and White House accused The Post crew of partisan bias following Wednesday’s vote to impeach Mr. Trump.
“Ladies & gentlemen, your fair and objective press corps in action! What a joke,” said Trump 2020 campaign manager Brad Parscale. “Media needs to stop acting like they are ’impartial.’”
White House press secretary Stephanie Grisham added, “Democracy dies over chips & guac,” a reference to The Post’s motto, “Democracy dies in darkness,” adopted a month after the Trump inauguration.
Washington Post celebrating the impeachment of their biggest political opponent. An impeachment that they worked so hard to achieve over several years. pic.twitter.com/IYVpzT2cCP
— Mollie (@MZHemingway) December 19, 2019
SEE ALSO: Rachael Bade, Washington Post reporter, ‘Merry Impeachmas’ tweet fires up Team Trump
I’m deleting a tweeting tonight that is being misinterpreted by some as an endorsement of some kind. To be absolutely clear, we at the Post are merely glad we are getting a break for the holidays after a long 3 months. I will retweet the group photo w/ a better caption !
— Rachael Bade (@rachaelmbade) December 19, 2019
The Bade tweet said, “Merry Impeachmas from the WaPo team! @pkcapitol is buying,” and showed a photo of Ms. Bade, Karoun Demirjian, Paul Kane, Seung Min Kim and Mike DeBonis.
After the criticism, Ms. Bade, who also serves as a CNN political analyst, tweeted that her message had been “misinterpreted by some as an endorsement of some kind.”
“To be absolutely clear, we at the Post are merely glad we are getting a break for the holidays after a long 3 months,” she said. “I will retweet the group photo w/ a better caption !”
The hashtag #MerryImpeachmas trended Wednesday as the House debated and ultimately passed the two articles of impeachment during Wednesday’s all-day floor session.
Conservative pundit Mollie Hemingway accused the reporters of “celebrating the impeachment of their biggest political opponent,” while Ben Shapiro tweeted, “Record. Levels. Of. Journalisming.”
Record. Levels. Of. Journalisming. https://t.co/wGOA260af0
— Ben Shapiro (@benshapiro) December 19, 2019
• Valerie Richardson can be reached at vrichardson@washingtontimes.com.
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