So some writer called Nathaniel Friedman thinks any Jew who has been offended by Rep. Ilhan Omar’s repeated antisemitic statements is an asshole.
I’m just wondering – by “asshole”, does Friedman mean like this?
Last night during the GOP convention, GQ sports blogger Nathaniel Friedman tweeted that he “would like to beat” to death Pat Smith, the mother of a victim of terrorism.
Smith is the mother of Sean Smith, a U.S. Foreign Service officer who died during the September 11, 2012 terrorist attack in Benghazi, Libya. Smith spoke at the Republican National Convention in Cleveland, Ohio on Monday night, saying she blamed former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton for the death of her son.
The remark angered Friedman, who tweeted to his 22,000 followers that he wanted to beat Smith to death.
“I don’t care how many children Pat Smith lost I would like to beat her to death,” Friedman tweeted.
Friedman did not initially take responsibility for the tweet, blaming Donald Trump for creating a climate that made him wish the death of another human being.
Please spare me the outrage over mock-extreme statements that are clearly commentary on the climate Trump hath wrought.
— Bethlehem Shoals (@freedarko) July 19, 2016
Eventually, Friedman did apologize—but only to the left-leaning segment of his audience.
Again, sorry to anyone I may have offended last night. Well, except for the right-wing mob that descended upon me while I slept.
— Bethlehem Shoals (@freedarko) July 19, 2016
Friedman deleted the tweet after someone advised him that if he didn’t delete his tweet his Twitter account would be suspended.
I’ve been advised to delete that tweet lest my account be suspended. Done.
— Bethlehem Shoals (@freedarko) July 19, 2016
On Tuesday afternoon, Friedman issued a full-fledged apology that referred to his Monday night behavior as indefensible.
Or like this?
A GQ writer says he regrets a now-deleted tweet in which he called for doxxing the Covington Catholic High School students involved in a confrontation with a Native American elder.
In a statement to TheWrap, GQ’s Nathaniel Friedman wrote:
It was an irresponsible and stupid tweet that happened in the heat of the moment because I was upset. It partly came from having been doxxed by MAGA people myself but that’s no excuse and no one should wish that on anybody else. It’s counterproductive to say anything along those lines and if you make yourself look like an irrational, mean idiot you’re playing right into their hands.
I’d say he’s intimately acquainted with a particular asshole.
Hat tip: Becky Griffin
