Blowback was swift when conservative writer Jon Podhoretz tweeted a joke suggesting a journalism school should be “neutron-bombed.” He received so much criticism, in fact, that he apologized Thursday, after completely deleting his Twitter account the day before.
Podhoretz tweeted this after finding out ex-New Yorker fact-checker Talia Lavin and ex-Teen Vogue contributor Lauren Duca were recently hired to teach at New York University Journalism School, Mediaite reports.
“Talia Lavin and Lauren Duca teaching at NYU J school is the best argument yet that J schools should be neutron bombed and their buildings given to Rick Singer for no show side door people,” he tweeted Wednesday.
Fortunately, that tweet was saved for posterity by BuzzFeed’s Jon Passantino.
bomb a school, you say pic.twitter.com/SdrgSZUt2i
— lvl 45 jesus potus (@thetomzone) March 20, 2019
Many conservatives viewed Lavin’s and Duca’s hiring to be controversial, and some of that was undoubtedly caused by Lavin’s resignation from The New Yorker after she falsely claimed an Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) Agent had a Nazi tattoo, The Wrap reports.
Duca gained internet fame after she appeared on Tucker Carlson’s show and famously called him a “partisan hack.”
And she tweeted this response shortly after:
.@TuckerCarlson is an enemy of rational discourse. In this fraught moment, his bully tactics are profoundly damaging, and achieve nothing.
— Lauren Duca (@laurenduca) December 24, 2016
Lavin owned up to her error and she and Duca have impressive resumes.
Podhoretz is now contrite about his remarks, and in a statement, he published on Commentary, he apologized to both women and had this to say:
“On Wednesday I wrote an aggressive and rude satirical tweet involving a neutron bomb, the NYU Journalism school, journalism schools in general, and two writers. I regret my attacks on Lauren Duca and Talia Lavin, which were unprovoked and therefore entirely unseemly. I wholeheartedly apologize to them.”
Lavin and Duca weren’t about to accept his apology and both said so in a series of tweets.
I don’t accept the apology of a man who will neither recognize nor atone for his rank, abusive misogyny. Stay gone, Podhoretz. https://t.co/55Q8hyktux
— Talia Lavin (@chick_in_kiev) March 21, 2019
If I was a superhero, my power would be making assholes so mad they can’t think straight ?
— Lauren Duca (@laurenduca) March 21, 2019
“I’m Sorry I Blew Myself” by John Podhoretz pic.twitter.com/mkyzrYdXex
— Lauren Duca (@laurenduca) March 21, 2019
Podhoretz deactivated his Twitter account Wednesday, and Lavin and Duca weren’t the only Twitterati glad to see him go.
congrats to John Podhoretz for owning himself so hard he erased his own existence
— Simon Maloy (@SimonMaloy) March 20, 2019
Podhoretz calling for the bombing of J schools and then deleting his own account is peak today
— Andy Campbell (@AndyBCampbell) March 20, 2019
In essence, John Podhoretz made a mistake and resigned from Twitter like Talia Lavin made a mistake with a tweet and resigned as a fact-checker, which made John Podhoretz so apoplectic he made a mistake with a tweet. https://t.co/xgTMahSivF
— Adam L. Penenberg (@Penenberg) March 21, 2019
John Podhoretz may have deleted his account, but his final post (asking the official McDonald’s Twitter if they were planning on coming out with a Lady Hamburglar) will live on forever. Godspeed, John. Godspeed.
— stefan heck (@boring_as_heck) March 21, 2019
At this point, it seems that Duca, Lavin, and the Twitter users above have done a great job of teaching Podhoretz a lesson. Or at least we hope so anyway.
Here’s more in the Wochit video below.
Featured image by Wochit News via YouTube video
