Watch what you tweet. That apparently was the warning sent to fellow Politico staffers after firing contributing writer Julia Ioffe for a rather salty tweet about President-elect Trump and his daughter, Ivanka. Ioffe tweeted yesterday, “either Trump is fucking his daughter or he’s shirking nepotism laws. Which is worse?” Ioffe was already heading to The Atlantic next year; Politico decided to accelerate the termination of that contract per their statement.
Scolding message from Politico's leadership on Julia Ioffe's Trump tweet from today: Contract terminated immediately. pic.twitter.com/Zz8fGfmukr
— ErikWemple (@ErikWemple) December 14, 2016
Atlantic says it is "confident" Julia Ioffe will adhere to mag standards when she comes aboard in January
— ErikWemple (@ErikWemple) December 15, 2016
Atlantic says it is "confident" Julia Ioffe will adhere to mag's standards when she joins next month
— ErikWemple (@ErikWemple) December 15, 2016
Here's our statement on Julia Ioffe tweet: pic.twitter.com/LWJDW2frHw
— Emily Lenzner (@Elenzner) December 15, 2016
Ioffe apologized in a series of tweets, though some are a bit taken aback that this tweet was the reason for her to lose her job. The Atlantic is confident that she will “adhere” to their standards.
It was a tasteless, offensive tweet that I regret and have deleted. I am truly and deeply sorry. It won't happen again.
— Julia Ioffe (@juliaioffe) December 14, 2016
All that said, I do regret my phrasing and apologize for it. It was a crass joke that I genuinely regret.
— Julia Ioffe (@juliaioffe) December 14, 2016
On a side note, while I don’t agree with Ioffe’s politics, she is a terrific writer and someone who you should read to get the other side on the issues. At the same time, this tweet did cross the line. Concerning whether she should've been fired, well, that's Politico and their business.