Empower Wisconsin | Oct. 29, 2019
The Washington Post is getting some help writing headlines after the Trump-hating publication had so much trouble calling a terrorist a terrorist.
Following President Trump’s Sunday morning announcement that ISIS leader and vile, murderous terrorist Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi was killed in a U.S. raid, the Post’s original headline declared, “Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, Islamic State’s ‘terrorist-in-chief,’ dies at 48.”
The newspaper later softened the headline to, “Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, austere religious scholar at helm of Islamic State, dies at 48.”
Whose feelings was the Post trying to protect?
The headline was met with disdain from critics, particularly Trump supporters, who saw the soft sell as politically driven.
“Every day The Washington Post uses harsher words against @realDonaldTrump than they do in writing about one of the world’s most evil terrorists. Yet we’re supposed to take them at face value. Let that sink in.” U.S. Rep. Steve Scalise (R-La.), House Majority, whip tweeted.
Twitter users were not so kind. Plenty offered hilarious parody headlines in the spirit of WAPO’s now-infamous “austere religious scholar” characterization.
“Adolf Hitler, passionate community planner and dynamic public speaker, dies at 56,” tweeted Jason Howerton.
“Mao Zedong, who saved 20-45 million of his own people from having to suffer through the struggle of existence, dies at 82,” Howerton, on a roll, tweeted again.
“Ted Bundy, meticulous researcher, charismatic figure, and Polaroid enthusiast, dead at 42,” mocked Josh Jordan in reference to the serial killer.
Here are a few more suggestions from your friends at Empower Wisconsin:
* Famed actor and bon vivant John Wilkes Booth dies suddenly at 26
* Joseph Vissarionovich Stalin, tireless champion of the working class (who survived his reign of terror) dies of stroke at 74.
* Idi Amin, cheery gourmand and former president of Uganda, dead at 78.
