Karen Tumulty, a columnist for the Washington Post, vowed to no longer amplify the nicknames President Trump gives his rivals.
“As of today, I will no longer, ever again, repeat or quote any of the asinine nicknames that [Trump] comes up with for his adversaries,” she tweeted Monday.
“Not preaching. Not making a political statement. Seriously. Just want to respect those people who respect me by reading what I write,” she said.
Not preaching. Not making a political statement. Seriously. Just want to respect those people who respect me by reading what I write.
— Karen Tumulty (@ktumulty) May 28, 2019
Two days prior, Tumulty shared a tweet by Trump calling former vice president and 2020 presidential hopeful Joe Biden a “Swampman” and “low IQ individual.”
Good god. Where do you even start on this one? https://t.co/6xzpuqVHVm
— Karen Tumulty (@ktumulty) May 26, 2019
Her decision to not give attention to the nicknames came a day after the New York Times was criticized for an article headlined “The Insults Trump Has Hurled at 2020 Democrats,” that listed the nicknames and other attacks.
why would the nyt do such a moronic thing as to headlining trumps stupid nicknames. why not headline the names of the fallen for the sake of this country. full pages of names of people who count and are no longer here. for shame
— Catherine (@thedoits1) May 27, 2019
So next November when you’re at the voting polls, and you don’t know a single thing about the Democratic candidate’s policies, at least you’ll know the insulting nickname Trump called him/her
And then you can thank @nytimes for better informing you as a citizen and voter
— Mentz (@ZachMentz) May 27, 2019
.@nytimes. This means you!!! Please dont let Trump dictate what you report. No more insulting nickname stories. Stop free advertising! https://t.co/BXDeaERUNg
— Jean Kimmel (@JeanKimmelMI) May 28, 2019
Earlier this month, the Washington Post’s media columnist Margaret Sullivan urged the media to stop spreading the nicknames.
“They are often false and always meant to bully. And the news media must stop trafficking in them,” she wrote in a May 16 column. “Journalists may not be able to ignore these nicknames altogether, but they should stop doing Trump’s dirty work for him: amplifying their power through prominent placement and frequent, unquestioning repetition.”
