Politico has terminated its contract with ‘writer’ Julia Ioffe after she published a tweet that suggested President-elect Donald Trump is having sex with his daughter Ivanka.
Ioffe tweeted a link of a report saying Ivanka will be using office space in the White House which is usually reserved for the first lady and commented, “Either Trump is fucking his daughter or he’s shirking nepotism laws. Which is worse?”
Editor-in-Chief John Harris and Editor Carrie Budoff Brown said Ioffe violated guidelines:
“Julia Ioffe’s tweet this afternoon about President-elect Trump – currently and understandably racing across social media – is a clear example of the opposite of what we were talking about. Julia had previously announced she is taking her work to the Atlantic. We have accelerated the close of her POLITICO contributor contract, effective immediately.”
Ioffe then tweeted, “We have a president-elect who popularized ‘saying what everyone is thinking,’ but I guess my phrasing should’ve been more delicate.”
Here is the full statement:
‘Hi all —
You will remember the note from John and me a few days ago in which we emphasized that POLITICO journalists are representing the publication at all times and on all platforms, and must present themselves accordingly. We also emphasized that the power of POLITICO comes from our independent reporting and analysis. Gratuitous opinion has no place, anywhere, at any time – not on your Facebook feed, your Twitter feed or any place else. It has absolutely zero value for our readers and should have zero place in our work
Julia Ioffe’s tweet this afternoon about President-elect Trump – currently and understandably racing across social media – is a clear example of the opposite of what we were talking about.
Julia had previously announced she is taking her work to the Atlantic. We have accelerated the close of her POLITICO contributor contract, effective immediately.
We understand how absolutely infuriating it is to have incidents like this tarnish POLITICO and the great work being done across the company. We feel the same, and as such there will be little tolerance for this type of behavior.
Thanks to the vast majority of you who are providing positive examples of the responsible way to engage on social media.
Carrie and John’
