Huffington Post Uses Ethnic Slur to Mock Bannon Ouster

“Goy, bye” the Huffington Post told Steve Bannon on his way out of the White House Friday.

The headline was posted with pride by Lydia Polgreen, the editor in chief of the left-wing news outlet, and it immediately drew raised eyebrows.

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“Goy” is generally considered a derogatory term for non-Jews. Unlike the word “gentile,” the word “goy” is most often meant to be pejorative. Google dictionary describes the word as “informal” and “derogatory.”

It seems possible the Huffington Post was trolling Bannon over accusations he represented a white nationalist faction in the White House.

But the ill-advised headline drew other interpretations.

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Given that so many of Bannon’s enemies within the White House are Jewish — Jared Kushner, Trump’s son-in-law, and Gary Cohn, Trump’s economic adviser — the Huffington Post could be implying Bannon was beaten out by his rivals.

Whatever the Huffington Post meant, it brought the outlet immediate criticism.

Harry Khachatrian, a Daily Wire contributor, said in a tweet the headline was insensitive to Jews: “I’m old enough to remember when HuffPost was super-concerned with antisemitism in America, a day ago.”

The Anti-Defamation League gave a thumbs down, too.

“Not sure your intent, but strikes me as poor taste at best, very offensive at worst,” ADL chief Jonathan Greenblatt tweeted.

Even Keith Olbermann, the ultraliberal and Trump critic, was shocked.

“Say, @HuffPost, WTF?” Olbermann tweeted.

At first, Polgreen, the Huffington Post editor, seemed to revel in the caustic headline.

“Gonna stir up a few [white nationalists],” said Adam Serwer, an Atlantic writer, in a tweet aimed at Polgreen.

“Looking forward to it,” Polgreen tweeted back, at 1:17 p.m.

But then about 3:15 p.m., after sustained outrage, Polgreen retreated, realizing their attempt to smack Bannon had backfired in an epic way.

“HuffPost splash headlines have always been edgy and playful, featuring puns and references to popular culture,” Polgreen tweeted. “Today’s splash was intended to be a mashup tribute to Yiddish and Beyoncé. Any other interpretation was completely unintended.”

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The headline was also changed.

It appears to have been originally written by Huffington Post front-page editor Chloe Angyal, who claims to have a doctorate in arts and media.

Polgreen did not immediately return an email from LifeZette.

One conservative media critic says the Huffington Post rushed to make a bad headline, and is counting Bannon out of the fight too soon.

“It’s just the wackos from HuffPost taking what they think is a parting shot at Bannon,” said Dan Gainor, the vice president of business and culture at Media Research Center, in an email to LifeZette. “But that implies he’s gone and I think they are taking a victory lap too darn fast.”

(photo credit, homepage and article images: Gage Skidmore)