Media

WaPo ‘Looking Into’ Reporter Over Alleged Biden ‘War Criminal’ Post

THAT’S A NO-NO

Taylor Lorenz, among the paper’s most active reporters on social media, has been accused of calling the president a war criminal in a post to her private Instagram story.

Journalist Taylor Lorenz and President Joe Biden
Instagram

The Washington Post said Thursday its “looking into” its reporter Taylor Lorenz after an alleged screenshot from a private Instagram story showed her suggesting Joe Biden was a “war criminal.” The screenshot was first shared by Lorenz’s longtime social media foe Jon Levine of the New York Post. The alleged screenshot showed Lorenz taking a selfie at a White House event while Biden greeted attendees in the background. The alleged post’s caption had the frowning face “:(” after the text “war criminal.” Lorenz responded to Levine on X and suggested the screenshot had been altered, writing, “You people will fall for any dumb--s edit someone makes.” An NPR report was published shortly after, however, that cited four people “with direct knowledge” of Lorenz’s Instagram story and claimed the now-viral screenshot was authentic. Lorenz, who once wrote for The Daily Beast, suggested it was unlikely NPR had four people confirm the screenshot, writing that her private story had only seven viewers. “Our executive editor and senior editors take alleged violations of our standards seriously,” a Post spokesperson told NPR. “We’re aware of the alleged post and are looking into it.”

Read it at NPR