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Hugh Hewitt, a conservative columnist for The Washington Post, revealed that he quit the newspaper Friday following a livestreamed feud with journalist Jonathan Capehart over Donald Trump’s rhetoric amid the presidential election.
“I won’t come back, Jonathan. I’m done!” Hewitt had said on Washington Post Live’s “First Look” show, removing his earpiece and storming off.
“This is the most unfair election ad I have ever been a part of,” he told Capehart and another Post writer, Ruth Marcus. “You guys are working. That’s fine. I’m done.”
Hewitt’s reaction arrived after Capehart suggested Trump was “laying the groundwork for contesting” this year’s vote results, following the GOP presidential nominee’s recent claim that there had been “cheating” in Pennsylvania.
Hewitt, who said that he voted for Trump last month, interrupted Marcus as she predicted the former president would “rev up his supporters to contest elections” and also go to court to make “whatever arguments he can, no matter how far-fetched.”
“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,” Hewitt said.
“Yes, he’s upset about [Pennsylvania’s] Bucks County, but he was right and he won in court,” Hewitt said of Trump. “That’s the story.”
Hewitt was referencing a Pennsylvania judge agreeing on Wednesday to extend an early voting deadline in Bucks County. The Trump campaign had sued over reports of long lines and voters being turned away as they waited to apply in person for a mail-in ballot.
Capehart said he didn’t “appreciate being lectured about reporting” when Hewitt has shared “lots of things that aren’t basic fact” on the Post show.
That response led to Hewitt’s meltdown, and the program subsequently experienced technical difficulties before Capehart brought it to a close.
“Everybody, if you’ve been watching ‘First Look,’ you know that these conversations can be interesting, contentious,” Capehart said.
“You just saw Hugh Hewitt leave the conversation, which is lamentable, unfortunate. It is what it is.”
Hewitt, who has contributed columns for the Post since 2017, told the newspaper’s editorial page editor that he was leaving Friday, as Fox News Digital reported.
“I have in fact quit the Post, but I was only writing a column for them every six weeks or so,” Hewitt told the outlet.
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A spokesperson for the Post, which declined to directly address Hewitt’s exit when contacted by multiple outlets, said, “As the newsroom’s live journalism platform, Washington Post Live is known for its dynamic conversations and thought-provoking perspectives on top issues of the day, such as this morning’s ‘First Look’ program.”
H/T Mediaite
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