The Washington Post sparked widespread backlash on Sunday for a headline change on its obituary for the leader of the so-called Islamic State, Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, whom it first described as the group’s “terrorist-in-chief,” then, after an edit, as an “austere religious scholar.” The switch drew shock and ire fromjournalists, politicians and pundits, prompting an especially vociferous response from President Donald Trump’s GOP allies. Former White House Press Secretary Sean Spicer was one of numerous Republicans to speak out about the headline, emphasizing that Baghdadi was “a ruthless, brutal terrorist who threatened our country,” a stark juxtaposition to the Post’s oddly complimentary word choice. Echoing his message, Stephanie Grisham, who is the current press secretary, tweeted that the headline had left her speechless.

I have no words. https://t.co/4zH9Ji0Smy — Stephanie Grisham (@PressSec) October 27, 2019

Though the headline was then changed a second time to refer to Baghdadi as an “extremist leader,” Trump’s 2020 campaign seized on the previous version, sharing a screenshot of the wording alongside an image of an apparent ISIS beheading.

The campaign’s national press secretary, Kayleigh McEnany, and its director of communications, Tim Murtaugh, also raised criticism of the obituary, the latter taking issue with the text of the article as well, which describes Baghdadi as “an austere religious scholar.”

The @washingtonpost described the death of al-Baghdadi, the leader of ISIS, as the death of an “austere religious scholar”!



Realizing their idiocy, WAPO has apparently now changed this asinine headline ⬇️ pic.twitter.com/9LByadwMop — Kayleigh McEnany (@kayleighmcenany) October 27, 2019

A lot is being made of the @washingtonpost’s now-changed headline of al-Baghdadi’s obit.



But how about this from the body of the obit itself?



“... an austere religious scholar with wire-frame glasses and no known aptitude for fighting and killing.”



(1/2) — Tim Murtaugh (@TimMurtaugh) October 27, 2019