Conservative commentator Ben Shapiro mocked people “losing their s—t” Thursday after Politico allowed him to guest-edit the most recent edition of its Playbook newsletter.
“People losing their s*** over me writing @politico Playbook this morning are pretty much proving my point,” Mr. Shapirotweeted. “So keep at it guys, you’re doing great!”
Politico faced a backlash after Mr. Shapiro presented his conservative viewpoint in Thursday morning’s newsletter, titled, “The real reason most Republicans opposed impeachment.”
“Opposition to impeachment comes from a deep and abiding conservative belief that members of the opposing political tribe want their destruction, not simply to punish Trump for his behavior,” Mr. Shapiro argued in the newsletter. “Republicans believe that Democrats and the overwhelmingly liberal media see impeachment as an attempt to cudgel them collectively by lumping them in with the Capitol rioters thanks to their support for Trump.”
Twitter users slammed Politico for giving Mr. Shapiro a voice, accusing The Daily Wire co-founder of minimizing the deadly riot last week at the U.S. Capitol.
The fact Politico gave prime real estate to Ben Shapiro the day after he claimed *everyone* has zip tie restraints at home in an attempt to minimize the Capitol riots and it all being sponsored by the oil and gas lobby tells you more about DC than any newsletter scoop could.
— Hunter Walker (@hunterw) January 14, 2021
Politico sidelining their many talented, well-sourced Capitol Hill reporters to have Ben Shapiro co-author Playbook on the day after a historic impeachment vote was an unfortunate choice to say the least.
— Dan Pfeiffer (@danpfeiffer) January 14, 2021
Yikes. Politico struggling after @JakeSherman and @apalmerdc left - they downgraded to Ben Shapiro writing Playbook today. Wtf.
— Katie Hill (@KatieHill4CA) January 14, 2021
Readers, do yourselves a favor and subscribe to @PunchbowlNews.
Politico handed over its Playbook today to Ben Shapiro, who used it to (falsely) accuse Bernie Sanders of inciting the shooting of Steve Scalise and to equate Bernie’s rhetoric with Trump’s. I kid you not.
— Mehdi Hasan (@mehdirhasan) January 14, 2021
(h/t @MattNegrin) https://t.co/2TtJKUdAk3
@politco — Ben Shapiro is not a journalist. He’s a propaganda machine who uses Republican anger to make money for himself. He does it with lies that put our democracy at risk still going forward. Pretending he’s a journalist is unforgivable.
— Joe Lockhart (@joelockhart) January 14, 2021
I understand the desire to have balance, but lying about stuff like Ben Shapiro does in this column (comparing Bernie Sanders to Trump, equivocating Trump’s voter fraud lies with Stacey Abrams) isn’t really a “side” that needs to be platformed https://t.co/xfiH4TkIKX
— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) January 14, 2021
Politico issued a statement Thursday defending its decision to include Mr. Shapiro.
“We have taken great care to assemble a roster of guest authors who are prominent thinkers and writers and represent a range of perspectives,” the company said. “What sets Politico apart in this intense political and media moment is that we rise above partisanship and ideological warfare — even as many seek to drag us into it. It’s a core value of the publication that is unchangeable, and that above all protects our ability to do independent journalism. It’s a part of our mission.”
The Daily Beast had reported earlier that several Politico staffers took issue with Mr. Shapiro penning the newsletter on the company-wide Slack channel.
“We published a piece by a very prominent writer, provocateur, and podcaster. We stand by every word in there, it was very closely edited,” Editor-in-Chief Matt Kaminski told staffers during a previously scheduled meeting on diversity and inclusion, The Daily Beast reported.
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