The Washington Post came under fire on Sunday for the initial headline on an obituary for Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi that called the leader of the Islamic State an “austere religious scholar.”
“There are no words. But there are three letters: WTF?” The Hill media reporter Joe Concha tweeted about the original headline, which was soon updated to refer to al-Baghdadi instead as “extremist leader of Islamic State.”
Reps for the Washington Post did not immediately respond to a request for comment, but spokeswoman Kristine Coratti Kelly tweeted a message of regret that stopped short of a full apology: “Regarding our al-Baghdadi obituary, the headline should never have read that way and we changed it quickly.”
The Washington Post did change the original headline to read, “Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, extremist leader of Islamic State, dies at 48” and deleted the original tweet — but not before it was seen by many of the Jeff Bezos-owned news outlet’s 14.3 million Twitter followers.
On Sunday morning, President Donald Trump announced that al-Baghdadi was dead after a U.S. military raid in northwest Syria that also killed several ISIS fighters and companions of al-Baghdadi. “He died like a dog. He died like a coward,” Trump said, adding that Baghdadi “spent his last moments in utter fear, in total panic and dread, terrified of the American forces bearing down on him.”
GOP national spokesperson Elizabeth Harrington condemned the Washington Post’s choice of words in its initial headline:
WaPo’s actual obit for a terrorist monster:
“austere religious scholar w/ wire-frame glasses”
“Mr. Baghdadi maintained a canny pragmatism”
“Acquaintances would remember him as a shy, nearsighted youth who liked soccer but preferred to spend his free time at the local mosque” pic.twitter.com/XFFBnUsHEO
— Elizabeth Harrington (@LizRNC) October 27, 2019
Media commentators also took note and responded unkindly to the newspaper with the hashtag #WaPoDeathNotices, mocking possible other toned-down labels on obituaries of notorious people on history. Here are a few:
“Joseph Stalin, advocate of a strong working class and population control, dies at 74” #WaPoDeathNotices pic.twitter.com/CPDAGbH125
— Josh Jordan (@NumbersMuncher) October 27, 2019
Saddam Hussein, successful politician, oil baron and noted tough boss, dead at 69. #WaPoDeathNotices
— Sen. Denise Batters (@denisebatters) October 27, 2019
https://twitter.com/johndurant/status/1188527040200237056
Charles Manson, famous songwriter and meditation leader, dead at 83 #WaPoDeathNotices
— Ben Shapiro (@benshapiro) October 27, 2019