Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Attiah's reference to Kirk's statement is a paraphrase that omits key context, effectively presenting it as a direct claim he made about Black women's intelligence, when Kirk was instead critiquing what he saw as hypocritical standards in political rhetoric.

The full quote comes from a July 13, 2023, episode of The Charlie Kirk Show, where Kirk was discussing Democratic criticisms of white judicial nominees (like those under Trump) as "affirmative action" selections lacking merit. He argued this was acceptable when aimed at whites but would be deemed racist if reversed. Specifically, he said: "If we would have said that Joy Reid and Michelle Obama and Sheila Jackson Lee and Ketanji Brown Jackson were affirmative action picks, we would be called every name in the book... You do not have the brain processing power to otherwise be taken really seriously. You have to go steal a white person's brain." Here, the "brain processing power" line is Kirk mocking or illustrating the implication of the "affirmative action" label when applied to Black women, not a standalone assertion of his own view on their intelligence. He was highlighting what he viewed as a double standard, not endorsing the racist trope outright.

Attiah's Bluesky post summarized it as Kirk claiming "Black women such as Supreme Court Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson and former Congresswoman Sheila Jackson Lee did not have the 'brain processing power to otherwise be taken really seriously.'" This strips away the hypothetical framing, making it sound like a direct quote from Kirk.

In her Substack response after the firing, Attiah acknowledged this as "a misquote, one that a journalist should have fact-checked more rigorously," but defended it as capturing the "essence" of his rhetoric on racial hierarchies. Critics called it a deliberate distortion to inflame racial tensions post-assassination.

You must not have seen the same clip I did where he was jeering at Sheila Jackson Lee.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:“Democracy Dies In Darkness” isn’t a warning. It’s a mission statement.

She was a DEI hire.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:“Democracy Dies In Darkness” isn’t a warning. It’s a mission statement.

She was a DEI hire.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Are right-wingers going to start reading the Post after Bezos drives all the sane people away? Who does Bezos think his propaganda is going to influence?

Maybe just normal people will start reading it again.

Nah, it's completely unreliable nowadays.

That article where it said that Trump's signature on the Epstein birthday letter was debateable was the final straw for me. I can handle a variety of viewpoints in the editorial pages. I can't handle blatant bullcrap in the news section.

I'm sticking to the FT from now on.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Attiah's reference to Kirk's statement is a paraphrase that omits key context, effectively presenting it as a direct claim he made about Black women's intelligence, when Kirk was instead critiquing what he saw as hypocritical standards in political rhetoric.

The full quote comes from a July 13, 2023, episode of The Charlie Kirk Show, where Kirk was discussing Democratic criticisms of white judicial nominees (like those under Trump) as "affirmative action" selections lacking merit. He argued this was acceptable when aimed at whites but would be deemed racist if reversed. Specifically, he said: "If we would have said that Joy Reid and Michelle Obama and Sheila Jackson Lee and Ketanji Brown Jackson were affirmative action picks, we would be called every name in the book... You do not have the brain processing power to otherwise be taken really seriously. You have to go steal a white person's brain." Here, the "brain processing power" line is Kirk mocking or illustrating the implication of the "affirmative action" label when applied to Black women, not a standalone assertion of his own view on their intelligence. He was highlighting what he viewed as a double standard, not endorsing the racist trope outright.

Attiah's Bluesky post summarized it as Kirk claiming "Black women such as Supreme Court Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson and former Congresswoman Sheila Jackson Lee did not have the 'brain processing power to otherwise be taken really seriously.'" This strips away the hypothetical framing, making it sound like a direct quote from Kirk.

In her Substack response after the firing, Attiah acknowledged this as "a misquote, one that a journalist should have fact-checked more rigorously," but defended it as capturing the "essence" of his rhetoric on racial hierarchies. Critics called it a deliberate distortion to inflame racial tensions post-assassination.

So it was an unintentional misquote? Seems like it was an interpretation that served the outcome she wanted.

No, it's more right wing lying.

People called Trump's White Guy DEI "Affirmative action" *because* Charlie Kirk and his gang were ruthless in calling every Black a Woman an incompetent diversity hire, *even when those people were actually white men*. His "hypothetical" is a actually reality, but he calls it "hypothetical" to pretend it's not.

Sorry, he *called* it hypothetical. He's not calling anything anymore.

Anonymous wrote:Attiah's reference to Kirk's statement is a paraphrase that omits key context, effectively presenting it as a direct claim he made about Black women's intelligence, when Kirk was instead critiquing what he saw as hypocritical standards in political rhetoric.

The full quote comes from a July 13, 2023, episode of The Charlie Kirk Show, where Kirk was discussing Democratic criticisms of white judicial nominees (like those under Trump) as "affirmative action" selections lacking merit. He argued this was acceptable when aimed at whites but would be deemed racist if reversed. Specifically, he said: "If we would have said that Joy Reid and Michelle Obama and Sheila Jackson Lee and Ketanji Brown Jackson were affirmative action picks, we would be called every name in the book... You do not have the brain processing power to otherwise be taken really seriously. You have to go steal a white person's brain." Here, the "brain processing power" line is Kirk mocking or illustrating the implication of the "affirmative action" label when applied to Black women, not a standalone assertion of his own view on their intelligence. He was highlighting what he viewed as a double standard, not endorsing the racist trope outright.

Attiah's Bluesky post summarized it as Kirk claiming "Black women such as Supreme Court Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson and former Congresswoman Sheila Jackson Lee did not have the 'brain processing power to otherwise be taken really seriously.'" This strips away the hypothetical framing, making it sound like a direct quote from Kirk.

In her Substack response after the firing, Attiah acknowledged this as "a misquote, one that a journalist should have fact-checked more rigorously," but defended it as capturing the "essence" of his rhetoric on racial hierarchies. Critics called it a deliberate distortion to inflame racial tensions post-assassination.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:When a journalist misquotes someone so blatantly and refuses to own up to her mistake (if it was a mistake and not intentional) she does not deserve the job as journalist.

https://www.politico.com/news/2025/09/15/washington-post-karen-attiah-kirk-00564027


Some of Attiah’s social media posts condemned political violence but also highlighted Kirk’s divisive comments on Black women. In her only post directly mentioning Kirk, she quoted the Turning Point USA founder’s comments that Black women lack “brain processing power.”

“I made clear that not performing over-the-top grief for white men who espouse violence was not the same as endorsing violence against them,” Attiah said.

Here is a recording from Kirk's 2023 statements:

So where is the misquote?

Was he speaking about those specific women or Black women in general?

Wow. I had never heard him speak on this issue before but now I understand why people say he was a racist, hateful person.

+1

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Charlie Kirk was a passoniate advocate for free speech for all white people, and no one who says differently should be tolerated in any job, especially one where they speak.

Nicely done!

Anonymous wrote:Charlie Kirk was a passoniate advocate for free speech for all white people, and no one who says differently should be tolerated in any job, especially one where they speak.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:When a journalist misquotes someone so blatantly and refuses to own up to her mistake (if it was a mistake and not intentional) she does not deserve the job as journalist.

https://www.politico.com/news/2025/09/15/washington-post-karen-attiah-kirk-00564027


Some of Attiah’s social media posts condemned political violence but also highlighted Kirk’s divisive comments on Black women. In her only post directly mentioning Kirk, she quoted the Turning Point USA founder’s comments that Black women lack “brain processing power.”

“I made clear that not performing over-the-top grief for white men who espouse violence was not the same as endorsing violence against them,” Attiah said.

Here is a recording from Kirk's 2023 statements:

So where is the misquote?

Was he speaking about those specific women or Black women in general?

Does it matter? Why are you trying to tease this out. He said what he said. Can you not trust your own ears?

If he’s accusing some of the best and brightest among black woman, who clearly on a different level to most people, black, white, male, female of lacking brain power and stealing slots from white men; I can only imagine what he thinks about black women “in general”

The guy was bad news.

Anonymous wrote:Karen Attiah was ostensibly fired from the Post for misquoting a Charlie Kirk remark but I assume the post had been looking for the opportunity to let her go for some time.

Mixed feelings. She was courageous about some topics but also quite hateful towards those who didn’t share her agenda. She can start her own page but I don’t think she’ll ever have as big a platform in the U.S. again.