WSJ Subtly Jabs at Martin O’Malley by Calling Him an ‘Unidentified Man’ in Photo Caption

The Wall Street Journal sought to subtly but humorously jab at Democratic presidential candidate Martin O’Malley with a photo caption that called the former Maryland governor “an unidentified man,” while clearly naming O’Malley’s Democratic rivals Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders who appeared next to him.

But the Twitterverse didn’t know that at first when it was flagged by Media Matters’ Matthew Gertz, with many wondering whether WSJ had made an ironic mistake, given that O’Malley has lagged significantly behind Clinton and Sanders in most polls and has received very little attention outside of primary debates. It turns out, though, that the photo caption, which was placed in an editorial titled, “Slow Bern,” was 100 percent intentional.

“The caption is a joke about Martin O’Malley’s obscurity as a Democratic presidential candidate,” WSJ editorial page editor Paul Gigot said in a statement. “The photo ran with a column by James Taranto, who sometimes refers to ‘Martin O’Malley, whoever he is.’ Liberals need a better sense of humor.”

Lis Smith, O’Malley’s deputy campaign manager, took to Twitter to respond to the controversy:

Media Matters staffer takes week old caption out of context. Unlike you, we got the joke. #MediaFails https://t.co/ZYzXTK25Np

— Lis Smith (@Lis_Smith) November 5, 2015

[Featured image via Shutterstock]

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