[COMMENTARY] Twitter Shreds Politico’s “Both Sidesing” With Ben Shapiro Op-Ed
A week after an insurrection incited by the newly twice-impeached, one term two-time loser of the Popular Vote left six people dead and the Capitol building vandalized, the Democrats brought one Article of Impeachment against Donald Trump in the House. Despite arguments against it from his remaining sycophants who are just as guilty of sedition and treason as he is (and quick aside–why would anyone keep defending a guy who would have been perfectly fine with them becoming collateral damage? Do any of them think the Dipshit Militia would’ve been able to make the distinction between the less well-known Democratic and Republican civil servants?), Trump was impeached for the second time, with only ten Republicans bravely breaking with their party to vote for American over Trump.
Of course, everyone on the internet has a take on what went down on January 6th, and as we’re still learning about the perpetrators and the inside help they received, more people are wondering why some Republicans are still sticking with Trump. At a time where the future of the Republican party is uncertain, some are coming forward to say they voted against impeachment because they feared retribution from Trump’s voters. Let that sink in: elected officials are now scared of their own voting base thanks to Trump and those who continue to push his hate agendas.
It's obvious that Ben Shapiro, an unserious muffin, should be nowhere near a Politico newsletter. But I also think about all the brilliant journalists who will never get that chance because they didn't traffic in division.
— Anand Giridharadas (@AnandWrites) January 14, 2021
Shapiro’s essay about why Republicans really voted against impeachment appeared in Politico’s Playbook newsletter, which was guest-edited by MSNBC host Chris Hayes in the interest of presenting a “both sides” take. The move immediately brought criticism to the usually respectable news site, because Twitter apparently knows better than a website dedicated to politics just how terrible Ben Shapiro is.
Politico: let's platform an arsonist and ask him to explain how the fire started. Ben Shapiro is a known racist, xenophobe and transphobic person – who constantly stokes hate. Can you google @politico?
— Amy Siskind 🏳️🌈 (@Amy_Siskind) January 14, 2021
By late Thursday it became clear that the editorial decision wasn’t sitting well with some Politico staffers.
There's been some internal pushback to Ben Shapiro authorship of Playbook today. A few messages that were shared and upvoted in Politico's internal Slack today:https://t.co/dVg69gWBup pic.twitter.com/i4ua37Ch53
— Max Tani (@maxwelltani) January 14, 2021
NEW: Politico is having a newsroom meeting right now over Ben Shapiro. @nickrobinsearly has ongoing details here.
“This is one of the most disappointing days, if not the most disappointing day, that I’ve been a part of this company,” one staffer said.https://t.co/wCQVFZrz6U
— George Zornick (@gzornick) January 14, 2021
There is no longer a need to “both sides” the issues any longer. The right has plenty of free places to run their mouths, they don’t need to be given free rein on Politico. Especially when it turns out there’s shady shit going on behind the scenes right around the same time a huge insurrection is about to go down at the Capitol Building.
1. Here is some information you won't read about in Politico Playbook today.
On Jan 5, @benshapiro turned over his "Daily Shapiro Action" email to Ted Cruz.
Cruz used the opportunity to push his bogus allegations that the election was invalid. pic.twitter.com/0jIklCDqsg
— Judd Legum (@JuddLegum) January 14, 2021
Do better, Politico. And that goes for any other media outlet who thinks they need to give anyone from the Trump camp any space in the interest of “healing”. They need to be treated as internet pariahs from now on.