Trump says NYT ‘under siege’ after Bari Weiss' resignation, Biden mum on media uproar
Bari Weiss said she was bullied by colleagues
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}President Trump declared Wednesday that The New York Times is “under siege” after a top editor and columnist quit claiming bullying by colleagues — but Democratic challenger Joe Biden has not yet weighed in on what is rapidly becoming a media world firestorm.
“Wow. The @nytimes is under siege,” Trump tweeted. “The real reason is that it has become Fake News. They never covered me correctly — they blew it.”
BARI WEISS QUITS NEW YORK TIMES AFTER BULLYING BY COLLEAGUES OVER VIEWS
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}He added: “People are fleeing, a total mess!”
The president’s tweet comes after Times opinion columnist and editor Bari Weiss announced that she was leaving, saying she was bullied by colleagues in an “illiberal environment,” weeks after she first declared there was a “civil war” inside the paper.
Weiss published a scathing resignation letter that she sent to Times Publisher A.G. Sulzberger, saying she doesn’t understand how toxic behavior is allowed inside the newsroom, and “showing up for work as a centrist at an American newspaper should not require bravery.”
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}In her resignation letter, Weiss noted that her own “forays into Wrongthink” have made her the subject of “constant bullying by colleagues” who disagree with her views.
“They have called me a Nazi and a racist,” she wrote.
“I have learned to brush off comments about how I’m ‘writing about the Jews again.’ Several colleagues perceived to be friendly with me were badgered by coworkers,” Weiss added. “My work and my character are openly demeaned on company-wide Slack channels where masthead editors regularly weigh in.”
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Former Vice President Joe Biden’s campaign did not respond to Fox News’ request for comment on Weiss’ resignation and her allegations toward the Times.
Weiss, in the past, was critical of Biden, calling on him to drop out of the 2020 Democratic presidential primary in February, before his comeback after the South Carolina primary.
But some former dark horse Democratic presidential candidates did speak out in defense of Weiss.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}“If someone like @bariweiss feels like she can’t do her best work at the @nytimes they should make some real changes over there,” former candidate Andrew Yang tweeted Tuesday night.
Former candidate Marianne Williamson also weighed in, replying: “I agree with Andrew about this.”
“Principled voices shouldn’t be suppressed in this country, regardless whether or not we always agree with them,” she tweeted. “In her resignation letter, @bariweiss tells some uncomfortable but important truths that most all of us need to hear.”
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Weiss’ departure speaks to a broader concern that centrist and conservative views are being stifled in newsrooms.
ANDREW SULLIVAN ANNOUNCES RESIGNATION FROM NEW YORK MAGAZINE, SAYS REASON 'PRETTY SELF-EVIDENT'
Later Tuesday, New York magazine columnist Andrew Sullivan also announced his resignation, amid ongoing controversy surrounding free speech and viewpoint diversity at major publications.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Sullivan tweeted news of his resignation after Weiss, but did not specify why he was leaving. He tweeted that the "underlying reasons for the split are pretty self-evident."
Sullivan, who had been a writer-at-large for the magazine since 2016, added he would address “the broader questions” surrounding his departure in his final column Friday.
The Wrap reported that New York magazine's editor-in-chief David Haskell told staffers in an email that Sullivan's "editorial project and the magazine’s, though overlapping in many ways, were no longer the right match for each other.”
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}In his statement, Haskell stated he was "trying hard to create in this magazine a civil, respectful, intellectually honest space for political debate. I believe there is a way to write from a conservative perspective about some of the most politically charged subjects of American life while still upholding our values."
Meanwhile, acting editorial page editor at The New York Times Kathleen Kingsbury provided a statement to Fox News on Weiss’s resignation.
“We appreciate the many contributions that Bari made to Times Opinion. I’m personally committed to ensuring that The Times continues to publish voices, experiences and viewpoints from across the political spectrum in the Opinion report,” Kingsbury said.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Fox News’ Brian Flood and Sam Dorman contributed to this report.