Bret Stephens Gets Pilloried After Damage Control Appearance on MSNBC: ‘What a F*cking Baby’
Hours after coming under heavy criticism for snitching on a college professor who likened him to a bedbug, New York Times op-ed columnist Bret Stephens tried to do some damage control on MSNBC. But his hit appears to have had the opposite effect.
During his appearance on MSNBC Live Tuesday morning, Stephens defended cc’ing the provost of George Washington University on an email to Dave Karpf — the assistant professor who likened him to a bedbug.
“All I would say is that using dehumanizing rhetoric like bedbugs or, you know, analogizing people to insects, is always wrong,” Stephens said. “There’s a bad history of being analogized to insects that goes back to a lot of totalitarian regimes in the past.”
If Stephens — who deactivated his Twitter account earlier in the day — thought he’d weathered the worst of the social media blowback, he thought wrong. Here’s a sampling of the reaction to the columnist’s MSNBC appearance:
Bret Stephens: “They speak Spanish. We don’t. They are not U.S. citizens or legal residents. We are. They broke the rules to get into this country. We didn’t.”
Also Bret Stephens: I am being dehumanized through totalitarian rhetoric and that’s why I called your manager https://t.co/V1SMg4Uam2
— Jonathan M. Katz✍? (@KatzOnEarth) August 27, 2019
This Bret Stephens story is hilarious. What an unfathomably pompous, hypocritical, snowflakey little bedbug. cc @nytimes
— Piers Morgan (@piersmorgan) August 27, 2019
Bret Stephens just said he felt “dehumanized” by someone calling him a bedbug.
Seriously.
This is PC snowflakery, the same type he regularly — and rightfully — complains about. https://t.co/sk5luA3Ewm
— Brad Polumbo (@brad_polumbo) August 27, 2019
Having shut down his Twitter account, Bret Stephens takes to the more old-fashioned medium of TV to continue to embarrass himself https://t.co/hXH5aGlx6A
— Dean Van Nguyen (@deanvannguyen) August 27, 2019
Stephens’s whole “I didn’t copy his boss on the email to get him in trouble” BS is in many ways the wimpiest part https://t.co/ZzNYBD21zM
— Buck Sexton (@BuckSexton) August 27, 2019
When I went to bed last night, I thought this Brett Stephens thing had run its course. I. DID. NOT. THINK. IT. COULD. GET. ANY. BETTER. Then…HOLY SHIT! THIS HAPPENED THIS MORNING! #whitetears #whitemalefragility https://t.co/X703RncuxN
— Genetta Adams (@GenettaAdams) August 27, 2019
After watching this clip, I can only conclude that Stephens is not, in fact, a bedbug. He’s an ass. https://t.co/wRZVgwFV3u
— G O L D I E. (@goldietaylor) August 27, 2019
Bret Stephens: “I’m a journalist who widely publishes my thoughts on every subject. I believe in freedom of the press & freedom of speech!”
Also Bret Stephens: “How dare a mere mortal compare me to a bedbug! I called his supervisor to get him fired!” https://t.co/vMfWc7rrwF
— Emerald Robinson ✝️ (@EmeraldRobinson) August 27, 2019
Imagine caring about someone calling you a bedbug lol what a fucking baby Bret Stephens is. I can’t quite believe this is real. It’s like a slighted child but he’s got airtime on MSNBC. https://t.co/d0ZJM1QCi0
— Jake Hanrahan (@Jake_Hanrahan) August 27, 2019
Everyone who has criticized me on the internet is part of a totalitarian regime that ought to be invaded and destroyed https://t.co/wTooWrYfx5
— Ben Domenech (@bdomenech) August 27, 2019
hours after disregarding @feliciasonmez and promoting a falsehood-filled article about an incident where she was victimized, bret stephens has linked a random twitter user calling him a bedbug to “totalitarian regimes” https://t.co/EbYxplX2FS
— Elliot Smilowitz (@SmiloTweets) August 27, 2019
Bret Stephens clearly was never bullied as a child because this is the exact OPPOSITE of how you should respond https://t.co/jEnzEsmTyZ
— Amber Athey (@amber_athey) August 27, 2019
Bret Stephens clearly was never bullied as a child because this is the exact OPPOSITE of how you should respond https://t.co/jEnzEsmTyZ
— Amber Athey (@amber_athey) August 27, 2019
It really was just a matter of time before Bret Stephens made the “calling me a bedbug is just like Hitler” argument https://t.co/U0TUBMnVKn
— Justin Baragona (@justinbaragona) August 27, 2019
