Hugh Hewitt Has Huge Hissy, Quits WaPo
So shocking it made further alliteration impossible.
Right-wing bloviator Hugh Hewitt quit his job as an opinion columnist at the Washington Post Friday morning after he stormed off the set of the paper’s weekly live “First Look” podcast show thing. The abrupt hissy fit and resignation was apparently unrelated to owner Jeff Bezos’s recent decision to kill the editorial board’s endorsement of Kamala Harris, but who knows, maybe Hewitt was mad about a lot of things.
The immediate cause of the Hewitt Huff was an unkind remark by “First Look” host and fellow WaPo columnist Jonathan Capehart, who was being a damned liberal and mean, to boot. But Hewitt had been testy throughout the entire brief opinion segment, featuring Capehart and WaPo columnist and deputy opinion page editor Ruth Marcus.
Before the blowup, Hewitt was already upset that anyone is accusing Donald Trump, a perfectly normal Republican, of being a fascist. He also explained that it’s unfortunate but understandable that Donald Trump fantasized about Liz Cheney having guns shoved in her face for being a warmonger, because after all Trump has been assassinated twice now, although he got better.
Finally, a discussion of a lawsuit over voting problems in Bucks County, Pennsylvania, which Trump has called “cheating,” drove Hewitt over the edge, because host Jonathan Capehart had Left! Out! Important! Context! You can see Hewitt roll his eyes and shake his head in disgust as Capehart asked Marcus if Trump was “laying the groundwork for contesting the election by complaining that cheating was taking place in Pennsylvania?”
Here, we have cued up to the start, which is followed by the abrupt end shortly after.
While Marcus talked about the danger of Trump once more trying to coup the election results, Hewitt just had to interrupt her, because Capehart hadn’t mentioned that the judge in the Bucks County case actually ruled that the county needed to extend early voting through November 1 over the election irregularities.
No, the judge didn’t say Democrats were “cheating,” but Hewitt believed Trump was right to sue, and that Capehart had stated the situation unfairly to make it sound like Trump had filed a frivolous suit, so when Marcus said, “No election can be fair in Donald Trump’s mind unless Donald Trump wins it,” and worse, predicted that Trump will pursue any legal case he can “no matter how farfetched,” Hewitt could hold his peace no longer.
HEWITT: Jon, I’ve got to speak up. I’ve just got to say, we’re news people, even though we’re at the Opinion section. It’s got to be reported. Bucks County was reversed by the court and instructed to open up extra days because they violated the law and told people to go home. So that lawsuit was by the Republican National Committee, and it was successful. The Supreme Court ruled that Glenn Youngkin was successful.
Hell of a second example there, Hugh, considering that the Court completely ignored black-letter law to let Youngkin purge 1,600 voters less than a week before the election. That’s the kind of fuckery Marcus was talking about!
Nevertheless, Hewitt perseverated about the need to always be scrupulously accurate:
We are news people, even though we have opinions, and we have to report the whole story if we bring up part of the story. So yes, he’s upset about Bucks County, but he was right and he won in court. That’s the story.
After a stunned pause, Capehart replied, “I don’t appreciate being lectured about reporting when, Hugh, many times you come here saying lots of things that aren’t based in fact —”
And that was it! Hewitt exploded, “I won’t come back, Jonathan, how’s that? I’m done!” as he removed his earpiece and got up from his desk. So dramatic! “This is the most unfair election ad I have ever been a part of. You guys are working. That’s fine. I’m done!”
Then as Capehart tried to shift to asking Marcus about her latest column, her camera froze, and refused to work again, in a sign that the News Gods were giggling.
Considering how things have been going, we would not recommend that Mr. Capehart accept any invitations from Mr. Hewitt to come by and make peace by sharing a glass of an excellent vintage of Amontillado in Hewitt’s wine nook.
[Daily Beast / Mediaite / CBS News]
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Hilariously huffy, hardly highbrow, hothead Hugh hits the bricks.
Legend.
*Scottish comedian Janey Godley, who found fame during the pandemic when she dubbed comedy videos spoofing Scotland’s political leader Nicola Sturgeon’s coronavirus news briefings, has died aged 63, her family has announced. Godley had been diagnosed with ovarian cancer in 2021 and shared in September this year that her “chemo ran out of options.” She made headlines in 2016 when she held up a sign stating “Trump is a c---” outside Donald Trump’s Turnberry Golf Resort. Last month, Godley went viral on social media again as she shared a picture of herself holding a t-shirt which said: “Trump is still a c---.” Sturgeon paid tribute to Godley on X, calling her “one of the funniest people I have ever known.”*