The Washington Post faced criticism Monday for purportedly publishing a favorable opinion piece that included placeholder text intended to be filled with whichever VP pick Kamala Harris eventually chooses.
The controversy started when, on the eve of Harris’ decision, Washington Free Beacon writer Andrew Stiles shared a screenshot of a WaPo opinion piece written by columnist Jennifer Rubin titled, “Why TK TK is the perfect VP choice for Kamala Harris.”
oops pic.twitter.com/K7d7U6J27D
— Andrew Stiles (@AndrewStilesUSA) August 5, 2024
Stiles captioned his X post, “oops,” offering no further explanation.
In the news industry, “TK” is shorthand for “to come,” indicating text that will be added later not yet available at the time of publishing.
The screenshot was taken not only as a sign of WaPo’s editorial incompetence, but as evidence the organization would enthusiastically endorse and unquestioningly heap effusive praise on whichever candidate Harris chooses.
Fucking embarrassing. https://t.co/nbCADAkySl
— Noam Blum (@neontaster) August 5, 2024
Wait did the Washington Post really accidentally publish a placeholder article which shows how they’d cheerlead whomever Kamala picks?
https://t.co/20COkrn2j4
— Raheem. (@RaheemKassam) August 5, 2024
No way
Did Washington Post accidentally publish their placeholder article to glaze literally *whoever* is Kamala’s VP pick?! https://t.co/04YDS23HDk
— Ashley St. Clair (@stclairashley) August 5, 2024
Amazing work. Real insight, no matter what https://t.co/wWa9FZuAgz
— Mary Katharine Ham (@mkhammer) August 5, 2024
Harris’ campaign has yet to officially unveil their choice, with Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro, Arizona Sen. Mark Kelly, Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear and Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz reportedly all in contention.
Infowars has been unable to independently corroborate the article using various archive sites.
The Washington Post and Rubin did not address the controversy on social media as of writing and the article appears to have been deleted.
Mr. Stiles did not immediately return a request for comment at time of writing.
Even X Community Notes had a hard time determining the post’s veracity.
Check back…this is a developing story!