New York Times conservative columnist Ross Douthat apologized Thursday after receiving blowback for joking about ending Donald Trump’s Republican presidential campaign by assassination.
“Good news guys I’ve figured out how the Trump campaign ends,” Douthat tweeted Wednesday night. The tweet included a clip from the 1983 film “The Dead Zone,” during which a candidate for the U.S. Senate faces an assassination attempt by a man who’s dreamt of him becoming president and launching a nuclear war.
His comment was quickly condemned by a handful of followers who indicated they felt it was in poor taste.
@DouthatNYT maybe time for you to take a break.
— Patricia A Hemsworth (@phemsworth) February 25, 2016
@DouthatNYT are you freaking serious? Imagine if you made this joke about President Obama. What is wrong with you, dude?
— Elliott S Washington (@BasementOnaHill) February 25, 2016
By Thursday morning, Douthat had deleted the controversial tweet and posted the following apology to Twitter:
A lot readers were offended by my Trump/”Dead Zone” joke from yesterday. I can see why, and I’ve deleted the tweet. Apologies.
— Ross Douthat (@DouthatNYT) February 25, 2016
A spokesperson for the New York Times did not return the Washington Examiner’s for comment.
