Politico severs ties with writer after vulgar Trump tweet

Politico has terminated its contract with magazine writer Julia Ioffe after she sent a tweet that referenced a possible incestuous relationship between President-elect Donald Trump and his daughter, Ivanka.

In a note to Politico staff Wednesday, Editor-in-Chief John Harris and Editor Carrie Budoff Brown said Ioffe violated guidelines against displaying “gratuitous opinion” on social media.

“Julia Ioffe’s tweet this afternoon about President-elect Trump – currently and understandably racing across social media – is a clear example of the opposite of what we were talking about. Julia had previously announced she is taking her work to the Atlantic. We have accelerated the close of her POLITICO contributor contract, effective immediately.”

Earlier in the day, Ioffe sent out the following tweets:

Either Trump is fucking his daughter or he's shirking nepotism laws. Which is worse? https://t.co/0Fo8vDKcDC — Julia Ioffe (@juliaioffe) December 14, 2016

I take back what I said about Ivanka and just let her father, our president, speak for me. https://t.co/54EccT5Jai — Julia Ioffe (@juliaioffe) December 14, 2016

Brown and Harris concluded the note by thanking “the vast majority of you who are providing positive examples of the responsible way to engage on social media.”

Ioffe recently joined The Atlantic from Politico.

She sent the following tweets later in the evening:

In Russia, the Kremlin rarely has to make the call to media organizations. The media bosses anticipate and do the censoring themselves. — Julia Ioffe (@juliaioffe) December 14, 2016

All that said, I do regret my phrasing and apologize for it. It was a crass joke that I genuinely regret. — Julia Ioffe (@juliaioffe) December 14, 2016

It was a tasteless, offensive tweet that I regret and have deleted. I am truly and deeply sorry. It won't happen again. — Julia Ioffe (@juliaioffe) December 14, 2016

Here’s the full note: