Washington Post Writer Fired Over Her Charlie Kirk Posts

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Washington Post Opinions Writer Let Go Following Charlie Kirk Social Media Controversy

In a development highlighting the consequences of public commentary in the wake of tragedy, former Washington Post opinions writer Karen Attiah announced on Wednesday via her Substack that she had been terminated by the newspaper following her social media activity related to the recent assassination of Turning Point USA founder Charlie Kirk. The incident underscores the growing tension between personal expression and professional responsibility in the era of social media.

Attiah, who spent eleven years with the Post’s Opinions department, framed her departure as a matter of principle. “I joined the Washington Post’s Opinions department with a simple goal: to use journalism in service of people,” she wrote. “I believed in using the pen to remember the forgotten, question power, shine light in darkness, and defend democracy. Early in my career, late Washington Post editorial page editor Fred Hiatt told me that opinion journalism is not just about writing the world as it is, but as it should be. He told me we should use our platform to do good. That has been my north star every day.”

Attiah asserted that her firing amounted to being silenced for “doing my job,” sharing a series of posts from her Bluesky account in which she addressed the rise in political violence and extremism in the United States following Kirk’s death.

While much of Attiah’s commentary focused on condemning political violence, she also referenced Kirk directly in one post — a citation she later characterized as his own words. In that post, she quoted a statement she attributed to Kirk: “Black women do not have the brain processing power to be taken seriously. You have to steal a white person’s slot.”

However, the quote she cited has been widely disputed and labeled inaccurate. Conservative commentator Greg Price, among others, quickly challenged the attribution, providing context that contradicted Attiah’s representation of Kirk’s statement.

Observers note that had Attiah confined her social media commentary to general criticism of political violence, she may not have faced professional consequences. The dispute highlights the ongoing debate over journalistic accountability, the verification of sources in public discourse, and the fine line opinion writers must navigate in politically charged environments.

In reality, Kirk’s comments targeted a group of prominent Black women — including former First Lady Michelle Obama, Supreme Court Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson, and former Representative Sheila Jackson Lee — who had suggested they benefited from diversity, equity, and inclusion initiatives, and he remarked on how such statements might have been deemed racist in earlier years.

Attiah’s claim that she was quoting Kirk “on record” was therefore demonstrably inaccurate. Yet, it wasn’t just the factual error that drew widespread criticism. Many on social media also took issue with the tone of her response to her termination, describing it as defiant, angry, and combative, which only intensified the controversy surrounding her dismissal.

The backlash was swift and sharp. Conservative activist Christopher Rufo weighed in, posting on X: “Potential employers, take note: Tiki Torch Karen will take glamor shots of herself lighting your newspaper on fire if you don’t continue to employ her. A narcissistic, hateful person. Not worth hiring, even as part of your DEI program.”

Other social media users echoed the sentiment, highlighting the perceived dishonesty behind Attiah’s firing. One X commenter bluntly addressed her post: “It’s astounding that in your article you can’t bring yourself to admit the obvious: you were fired for lying, fabricating a racist quote out of thin air and pinning it on Charlie Kirk. And so your pitiful career ends exactly as it began: a fraud, a DEI propagandist propped up by affirmative action, exposed at last for what you always were.”

The responses underscored the intense scrutiny and public accountability Attiah faced, illustrating how quickly perceived missteps in reporting or commentary can escalate in the current media landscape.

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