Vice tweeted a story about neo-Nazis in the Marines on the same day a number of Marines were killed in Afghanistan
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Vice has come under fire since tweeting a story Thursday about neo-Nazis who serve in the Marines — the same day officials announced that American service members were killed in an attack in Afghanistan. Vice’s tweet was deleted after criticism starting rolling in.
Three unrelated but relevant things happened Thursday: American service members were killed in an attack in Afghanistan, Vice laid off a little under 20 of its top editors and writers while heralding promotions, and Vice also tweeted its Marines.
While it was up, the tweet said, “While many vets are being outed as far-right extremist, one branch keeps popping up when it comes to neo-Nazis: the United States Marine Corps.” The Vice News account also tweeted the story Thursday, but that tweet has not been deleted.
At least 13 U.S. service members were killed in Thursday’s attack and at least 11 of them were Marines, so the backlash came quickly at Vice. Conservative writer Kassy Dillon summed up the reaction, writing, “Are you f—ing kidding me?” Other less prominent tweeters questioned whether the tweet could be seen as “treason” or a failure of being able to “read the room.” Meghan McCain urged Vice staffers to “go f—” themselves.
The Vice News tweet that remained up on the social media platform continued to attract criticism into Friday, as high-profile figures like conservative commentator Candace Owens and streamer Danny Marang jumped in.
A representative for Vice did not immediately return a request for comment.
Vice Media, meanwhile, saw another round of layoffs Thursday, just weeks after declaring a pivot to video content. According to one source with knowledge of the layoffs, fewer than 20 people were let go.
A memo to global staff from chief digital officer Cory Haik, reviewed by TheWrap, heralded the “growth period” of the last two years and focused on the day’s events as a “global editorial alignment.” She touted, among other things, Vice’s YouTube account reaching 14 million subscribers and breaking its all-time monthly view record in May, the 20% increase in American traffic to i-D and traffic to Refinery29’s “Unbothered,” a digital community for Black women, rising by over 40% year over year.
After announcing a swatch of promotions, she added, “As part of this continued global alignment we’ve unfortunately had to say goodbye to some of our friends and colleagues today. We wish them well and thank them for their dedicated service over the years.”
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