PBS "NewsHour" anchor Gwen Ifill is under fire for taking a shot at Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu by tweeting "Take that Bibi," in response to a revised version of President Barack Obama's infamous bomb graphic explaining the Iran nuclear deal.
PBS ombudsman Michael Getler criticized the "experienced" news anchor and noted that Ifill's tweet was "inexcusable" and "unbecoming of a journalist,"
Mediaite reports.
Ifill's tweet was connected to the White House Iran Deal Twitter account and according to Getler, "quickly produced a lot of angry emails" in the ombudsman's inbox.
Apart from angry emails, Ifill also received quite a bit of blowback on Twitter:
"It was not a shot at Prime Minister Netanyahu," Ifill told the Washington Free Beacon, according to
Mediaite. "Even though it has become apparent that, in certain circles, it was taken as one. I was calling attention to what seemed to me, to be criticism directed toward him coming from State."
Getler concluded that Ifill's excuse for the tweet is far-fetched and that "one would have to lean way over backwards to give her the benefit of the doubt, that she was simply shedding light on the administration's view of portions of Netanyahu's arguments."
Getler added, "In my book, inexcusable for an experienced journalist who is the co-anchor of a nightly news program watched by millions of people over the course of any week."
© 2024 Newsmax. All rights reserved.