Politico, the website devoted to covering all facets of the political news cycle, said late Thursday that it had suspended one of its White House reporters for making numerous disparaging and vulgar comments about Mitt Romney.
The reporter, Joe Williams, has a history of describing Romney and other conservatives in provocative terms on his Twitter feed.
On Thursday, after Williams appeared on MSNBC’s Martin Bashir program and said Romney appeared comfortable only around “white folks,” Politico said it had taken action.
In a memorandum to the staff, the website’s editors said Williams’ comments were regrettable and inappropriate.
“Our standards are serious, and so are the consequences for disregarding them,” the memorandum said. “This is true for all Politico journalists, including an experienced and well-respected voice like Joe Williams.”
In messages posted on Twitter, Williams ridiculed Romney in many ways.
He alluded to the Romney road trip to Canada with the family’s dog strapped to the roof of the car and poked fun at Romney for being out of touch. (“Jeeves knows my tastes,” he wrote in response to a remark Romney hadmade about food.)
When Ann Romney once commented that her husband was more relaxed than his public persona would suggest - “I guess we’d better unzip him and let the real Mitt Romney out!” she said - Williams made a crude anatomical joke about that comment.
Front Section, Pages 14 on 06/24/2012