The editor-in-chief of Scientific American (SciAm), the oldest magazine in the U.S., is being called on to resign after going on a profane anti-Trump rant and describing his supporters as “fascists.”
Laura Helmuth, who became the editor of SciAm in 2020, went on a rage-filled rant in a stream of now-deleted posts on the social media platform Bluesky after the former president won the election:
“I apologize to younger voters that my Gen X is so full of fucking fascists,” she wrote in one post.
“Solidarity to everybody whose meanest, dumbest, most bigoted high-school classmates are celebrating early results because fuck them to the moon and back,” she continued, before going after her own home state.
“Every four years I remember why I left Indiana (where I grew up) and remember why I respect the people who stayed and are trying to make it less racist and sexist,” Helmuth wrote. “The moral arc of the universe isn’t going to bend itself.”
In a follow-up post the next day, Helmuth implied that her fellow SciAm staff were also “devastated” by the election results:
The magazine has been in print since 1845, featuring work from Albert Einstein, Nikola Tesla, and more than 150 Nobel Prize-winners.
In 2020, shortly after Helmuth became the chief editor, SciAm endorsed a presidential candidate for the first time ever — Joe Biden.
In September, it endorsed Vice President Kamala Harris for president “to support science, health and the environment.”
After receiving backlash about her posts from readers who apparently do not want the once-prestigious magazine’s legacy marred by political polarization, Helmuth deleted her posts and walked back her comments.
“I made a series of offensive and inappropriate posts on my personal Bluesky account on election night, and I am sorry. I respect and value people across the political spectrum,” she wrote in a statement on Bluesky.
“These posts, which I have deleted, do not reflect my beliefs; they were a mistaken expression of shock and confusion about the election results. These posts of course do not reflect the position of Scientific American or my colleagues. I am committed to civil communication and editorial objectivity,” she added.
Even though she apologized, it was too late.
Longtime SciAm contributor Michael Shermer, who formerly had a column with the magazine, said the publication “is now a shill for far left woke progressives” because of Helmuth:
Scientist Kevin Bass appeared to agree, writing, “Laura Helmuth must go” on X:
Conservative radio host Diane B said that she finds it “interesting” that Helmuth locked down her X account after receiving criticism:
“As a good friend says: You need to Sack up Laura,” she added.
Other X users called the editor a “hateful bigot” who made the magazine “toxic” and “non-scientific”:
