Washington Post denounces abuse of reporter

The Washington Post on Thursday denounced online abuse that targeted one of its reporters after a photo of her speaking with Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska) was shared on Twitter.

The attacks on White House correspondent Seung Min Kim came after Huffington Post reporter Igor Bobic on Wednesday shared a photo of Kim showing Murkowski a tweet from Neera Tanden, President Biden’s nominee for Office of Management and Budget director, in which Tanden criticized Murkowski.

In the 2017 tweet, Tanden said Murkowski was “high on your own supply,” writing, “You know, we know, and everyone knows this is all garbage.”

“High on my own supply, that’s interesting. Should I ask her? My own supply of what? See that goes to show how much homework I still have to do on her if I didn’t even know that she had sent out a tweet about me,” Murkowski replied after being shown the tweet.

.@seungminkim showing Murkowski an old Tanden tweet targeting her

“High on my own supply? That’s interesting” pic.twitter.com/gdhaYpQuvf

— Igor Bobic (@igorbobic) February 24, 2021

Kim later posted some of the abuse that she had received via email due to the photo. One email she shared told her to “Go back to China bitch.” Kim is of Korean descent.

The Post issued a statement denouncing the attacks.

“What she did was basic journalism,” Steven Ginsberg, national editor for the newspaper, said in a statement shared by Kristine Coratti Kelly, the paper’s vice president of communications.

“No one should have to deal with the hate that has been directed at Seung Min. She did her job and she did it well, like she always does. We could not be prouder that she is our colleague and a reporter for The Washington Post,” Ginsberg said.

Latest statement from Washington Post National Editor @stevenjay on the harassment of reporter Seung Min Kim pic.twitter.com/2mXpshvYlZ

— Kristine Coratti Kelly (@kriscoratti) February 25, 2021

“In reporting about Tanden’s tweet, she asked Murkowski for a comment,” Ginsberg added. “Murkowski had not seen the tweet, so Seung Min showed it to her. This is standard practice. If a subject of a story is not aware of the information they are being asked to comment on, reporters share it with them. This only makes sense and is the fair and responsible thing to do.”

Tanden’s criticisms of conservative politicians through her Twitter account have landed her in hot water with GOP senators as she seeks Senate confirmation. Even some Democratic lawmakers like Sens. Joe Manchin (W.Va.) have said they will not vote for Tanden because of her online remarks.

Democrats who support Tanden have shot back at the criticisms levied against her, arguing that GOP lawmakers stayed silent during the four years former President Trump was in office, during which he often tweeted hostile barbs to his critics and adversaries.