Politico Takes Heat for Blaming Roy Cohn's Death by AIDS on His 'Decadent Homosexual Lifestyle'

Library of Congress; Politico

Politico came in for a storm of criticism after a senior staff writer for the website, Michael Kruse, wrote in a piece published on Sunday that former Trump adviser and Republican fixer Roy Cohn died from AIDS as a “result of the decadent homosexual lifestyle he denied to the end.”

The language in the piece was amended several hours after publication to remove the phrase “decadent homosexual lifestyle,” an editor’s note followed several hours laters after multiple inquires from TheWrap and others online.

“An earlier version of this story contained language about Roy Cohn that was deemed insensitive and has been removed,” reads a terse statement at the top of the article.

Reps to Politico did not immediately respond to request for comment.

Also Read: Politico Reporter Apologizes for Mocking Trump Supporters' Teeth

But critics were quick to take offense at Kruse’s original wording — you can read the original uncorrected version here, where it will exist for all eternity on the internet archive.

“I don’t understand how Politico had enough [gall] to publish this very homophobic/HIV stigmatizing piece,” one commenter wrote.

Another added, “This is so insanely irresponsible.”

wtf @politico https://t.co/gsXhYhM8PK pic.twitter.com/xKip6XSeYN

— Jameson Fitzpatrick (@twinkpiece) August 20, 2018

uuuuuuuuuhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh https://t.co/aaV8sLXjpk

— Ashley Feinberg (@ashleyfeinberg) August 20, 2018

Take us through your thinking on that turn of phrase.

– ProveItHat (@Popehat) August 20, 2018

wtf @politico https://t.co/Afz8uwuF2T

— jo livingstone (@Jo_Livingstone) August 20, 2018

Hi @politico this is homophobic. It's 2018, at least have the decency to mostly screw up on trans issues like other major outlets https://t.co/PBGjOIZTqc

— Evan Greer (@evan_greer) August 20, 2018

This is so insanely irresponsible. https://t.co/l43xMwnNro

— Erick Fernandez (@ErickFernandez) August 20, 2018

Y I K E S https://t.co/qwmPwVcUQN

— Samantha Tomaszewski (@managewski) August 20, 2018

That’s the right sentiment, @twinkpiece. WTF is this @politico? https://t.co/lU8p7HwEs7

— Steven W. Thrasher (@thrasherxy) August 20, 2018

Really shitty stuff from @politico — the decadent-homo-cast-down-by-the-gay-plague trope is as gross as it is irresponsible. A generation of dead queers isn't a shot of colour for your clapped character sketches. https://t.co/uqiR52yb0z

— Edward Siddons (@edwardsiddons) August 20, 2018

I don’t understand how @politico had enough gull to publish this very homophobic/HIV stigmatizing piece.

It’s gross. This is not controversial; it’s harmful. Plain and simple. https://t.co/5iTrScE8DA

— ????️‍???? original batty mon ✨ (@snacktavist) August 20, 2018

It's 2018, and we've still got "AIDS is the result of a decadent homosexual lifestyle" in a respected political journalism outlet. That's great, just great. https://t.co/HUqdocnhlQ

— Max Kennerly (@MaxKennerly) August 20, 2018

Also Read: 'Angels in America' Broadway Review: Andrew Garfield and Nathan Lane Battle for Life

The passage in question came just after Kruse quoted from a memoir by Cohn, which he noted was published “in 1988, two years after he died from AIDS, the result of the decadent homosexual lifestyle he denied to the end.”

Cohn, a notorious figure who rose to power as counsel to Sen. Joseph McCarthy’s hunt for Communists in the U.S. during the 1950s, was also a closeted gay man (and a key character in Tony Kushner’s award-winning play “Angels in America”).

It’s not the first time Politico reporters have stepped in it with their characterizations of things. Only weeks ago, reporter Marc Caputo insulted Trump supporters’ teeth during a rally in Tampa, Florida and was forced to delete the remark and apologize.

“We will always defend a fair and free press and support colleagues who are treated unfairly or in an abusive manner, but contributing to an already divisive environment with tweets such as this undermines that cause,” a rep for Politico told TheWrap at the time. “This tweet does not meet our standards, and we’ve addressed it with Marc. We should all aspire to do better.”

Mike Cernovich, a Timeline: From Choking Advice to Pizzagate to Firings (Photos)

Maybe you'd never heard of right-wing provocateur Mike Cernovich before last week, when he helped get James Gunn fired from the next "Guardians of the Galaxy" film by highlighting Gunn's old Twitter jokes about rape and pedophilia. But Cernovich himself has a long history online, filled with both successes and statements he has since distanced himself from -- for reasons that will be obvious.
Advice on Choking Women

Before gaining fame as a Trump superfan, Cernovich got his start in the men's rights and pick-up artist community. His advice column, published on his blog "Danger and Play," included suggestions on the proper way to "choke" women during sex. This entry from December 2011 has since been deleted: "Choking works because it’s a show of dominance. Women only want to have consensual sex with men they know could rape them."
Pizzagate

Cernovich first came to wide public attention over his promotion of a conspiracy theory during the 2016 election that suggested that a pedophile ring was being run out of the basement of a Washington, D.C. pizzeria. The story was bunk, and Cernovich has moved to distance himself from Pizzagate.
Will Sommer/Twitter
John Conyers

Cernovich's biggest score of all probably wasn't James Gunn, but John Conyers. A tip provided by Cernovich to BuzzFeed about accusations of sexual misconduct forced the Democrat to resign his seat in disgrace in December 2017.
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Sam Seder

Mike Cernovich targeted the MSNBC contributor over a years-old joke about his daughter being raped. MSNBC dropped Seder in December 2017, but reinstated him after a public backlash.
MSNBC
Sopan Deb

Cernovich went after New York Times reporter Sopan Deb in March 2017 over a tweeted pun about the rapper Bow Wow. The incident earned Deb an official rebuke from the Times' then-public editor, Liz Spayd.
Josh Barro

In November 2017, Cernovich demanded an apology from Josh Barro after the Business Insider Senior Editor made fun of his lisp. Barro swiftly retreated.
Twitter
Perry Fein

In June 2018, Los Angeles Times freelancer Perry Fein slipped into Cernovich's DMs and wished harm upon him. His relationship with the newspaper was over just hours later.
Los Angeles Times Media Group
James Gunn

Last week, Cernovich helped lead an online campaign highlighting old tweets in which Gunn joked about rape about pedophilia. Gunn offered an apology, but was dropped by Disney from the "Guardians of the Galaxy" franchise.
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Cheri Jacobus

Before the James Gunn situation, Cernovich also led a brief and successful campaign to pressure USA Today to drop columnist Cheri Jacobus. The decision from the paper came after Jacobus' bizarre comments about convicted pedophile Jeffrey Epstein.
Michael Ian Black

Cernovich has trained his fire on comedian Michael Ian Black, who has said several times on Twitter that his tweets about pedophilia were only jokes.
YouTube
Dan Harmon

Fresh off his victory in ousting Gunn from "Guardians of the Galaxy," Cernovich forced "Rick and Morty" co-creator Dan Harmon and his employers at Adult Swim to apologize over an old sketch that featured Harmon graphically simulating the rape of a baby. (The sketch used a doll, not an actual baby.)
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The right-wing provocateur has become a thorn to liberals online

Maybe you'd never heard of right-wing provocateur Mike Cernovich before last week, when he helped get James Gunn fired from the next "Guardians of the Galaxy" film by highlighting Gunn's old Twitter jokes about rape and pedophilia. But Cernovich himself has a long history online, filled with both successes and statements he has since distanced himself from -- for reasons that will be obvious.

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