Several media outlets were hit with social media backlash after a bizarre description of Nation of Islam leader Louis Farrakhan as "right-wing."

They were reporting on the action taken by social media platforms to ban some political personalities they considered dangerous, but in the list of those labeled as "right-wing" was the ostentatiously left-wing figure Louis Farrakhan.

Farrakhan advocates for black separatism and has frequently criticized Republicans while being embraced by Democratic politicians, but that didn't prevent the news outlets from somehow labeling him as "right-wing."

Among the outlets that used the bizarre labeling was the Washington Post, which faced criticism online from those stunned at the mistake.

"Do words mean things anymore? Farrakhan isn't far right. He's a blatant anti-Semite defended by a significant portion of the Left," tweeted Ben Shapiro.

"What in the actual hell?" responded commentator Kira Davis. "Louis Farrakhan has never once been considered on 'the right' - far or otherwise."

The Washington Post later deleted their tweet with the erroneous label on Farrakhan, and corrected the story.



"We have deleted this tweet because it incorrectly included Louis Farrakhan, who has espoused anti-Semitic views, in a list of far-right leaders," the Washington Post account tweeted.

The Atlantic also grouped Farrakhan under the label "far right extremists," but later stealth edited their article to separate out Farrakhan from the rest of the figures banned.

The article does not cite the changes made after it was first published, and they did not tweet about the erroneous description.

Despite the editing of the article, staff writer Adam Serwer defended the use of the term "far right extremist" to describe Farrakhan, which only elicited more ridicule online.

Here's the report on the social media report: