Trump wants once fired reporter fired again for bad tweet

The Washington Post reporter, Dave Weigel, sent a misleading tweet about the recent Trump rally implying that it was sparsely attended and he showed photographic evidence to his claim.

But the photo was taken before the rally kicked off and it merely showed a few early attendees.

This isn't the first time Weigel had a run-in with the newspaper--in 2010 he was hired to blog about conservatives. He stupidly posted personal, abrasive emails on an off-the-record listserv about Ron Paul (R.-Tx.) as well as conservative syndicated radio host Rush Limbaugh and others.

One of the leaked comments on the "Journolist" listserv was that Paul, was part of the "Paultard Tea Party."

So who's the "tard?"

Weigel apologized when he got outed for his comment and offered his resignation, which was accepted by then-Managing Editor Raju Narisetti. 

After the smoke cleared and memories eroded, the Washington Post rehired him in 2015--they evidently liked his thinking.

In this latest case, Weigel apologized for the "bad tweet" he sent out Friday night regarding Trump's Pensacola, Florida rally, showing a photo of a half-empty arena to mock Trump for saying the rally was "packed to the rafters."

It turns out that it was.

"It was a bad tweet on my personal account, not a story for Washington Post. I deleted it after like 20 minutes [like, like]. Very fair to call me out," the phony tweeted after getting caught and criticized on it.

Poor Weigel doesn't understand President Trump's narcissistic injury he felt by the fake tweet. He doesn't understand that when you're job is journalism, everything you write journalistically needs to be honest. 

Weigel is not honest.

But even his apology wasn't enough for the president who wants him fired as he continues to expose what he sees as unfair reporting by the mainstream media. And he makes a good point--the mistakes the media make are invariably against conservatives, and the corrections are hardly noticed once a half-hearted apology is quietly given.

Trump tweeted:

@DaveWeigel @WashingtonPost  put out a phony photo of an empty arena hours before I arrived @ the venue, w/thousands of people outside, on their way in. Real photos now shown as I spoke. Packed house, many people unable to get in. Demand apology & retraction from FAKE NEWS WaPo!"

Trump posted a follow-up tweet:

"@daveweigel of the Washington Post just admitted that his picture was a FAKE (fraud?) showing an almost empty arena last night for my speech in Pensacola when, in fact, he knew the arena was packed (as shown also on T.V.). FAKE NEWS, he should be fired."

Weigel wouldn't speak about his 2010 resignation, referring the media's request to the paper's public relations department, which will probably not respond because PR information is generally not made public.

However, Kris Coratti of the Washington Post issued a response to Fox News on Sunday about Weigel's tweet: 

"Dave Weigel relied on an inaccurate image in tweeting about President Trump's rally in Pensacola. When others pointed out the mistake to Weigel, he quickly deleted the tweet. And when he was later addressed by the president on Twitter, he promptly apologized for it."

In another post in 2010, Weigel wrote about conservative blogger Matt Drudge and said he should "handle his emotional problems more responsibly and set himself on fire."

Weigel is my nominee for the Darwin Award for Journalism.

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