EXCLUSIVE: Leaked Screenshots Reveal BuzzFeed Director Wishing for Trump Assassination
Author: Cassandra Fairbanks
BuzzFeed, the outlet behind the infamous and absurd “Golden Showers” dossier, has more than a bit of disdain for President Donald Trump — as proven through these leaked conversations from their private workplace chat.
In screenshots exclusively provided to Big League Politics by former BuzzFeed employee Tim “Treadstone” Gionet, better known as Baked Alaska, the website’s Director of Social Media Maycie Thornton wishes for Trump’s assassination as co-workers laughed and cheered her on.
“Maybe someone will assassinate him,” said Thornton.
“This was not the first time BuzzFeed employees talked openly about wishing President Trump would get assassinated, they hated conservatives so much they even held an office party when Justice Scalia died. It was a toxic environment and you were declared a heretic if you were a Trump supporter, bottom line,” Treadstone told Big League.
Treadstone has been outspoken as his treatment as a BuzzFeed employee after coming out publicly in support of Trump during the election season. His allegations of being treated differently at work for being conservative were confirmed by multiple BuzzFeed employees in a profile by Oliver Darcy for Business Insider.
Appearing on Tucker Carlson on Wednesday evening, Ben Smith Editor-in-Chief of BuzzFeed News, claimed that conservatives did not face discrimination at the outlet.
Smith claimed that Treadstone’s story about unfair treatment were lies when he was confronted about it by Carlson.
Carlson read from Darcy’s piece, “‘I’ll never forget this story,’ Gionet said, recalling to Business Insider the “aha moment” that drove him toward Trump. ‘I was talking about the new Justin Bieber album. And I was like, ‘Dude, that new Justin Bieber album is dope. I have to admit, I love Justin Bieber. He is totally my spirit animal.’ And someone came up to me and was like, ‘Hey bro, you can’t say spirit animal, that’s culturally appropriating Native American culture and that’s not cool.’”
Treadstone claims that after his switch to Trump, his treatment at the outlet took a turn for the worst — and the hostility ultimately lead to his resignation.
“I don’t think it happened, I was not there,” Smith said. “He was not somebody who I think was persecuted for his conservative beliefs.”
Smith has previously been referred to as a “total mess” by President Trump.
Buzzfeed initially declined to comment for this report.
Will CEO Jonah Peretti condemn his employees calling for the assassination of President Trump?
UPDATE: Shortly after this report was published, all three BuzzFeed employees implicated in the leak set their Twitter accounts to private.
UPDATE: Buzzfeed spokesman Matt Mittenhal eventually replied to Big League Politics, stating, “While the remark in question is regrettable, it was made in private by someone who is not a reporter nor even an employee of BuzzFeed News. Attempting to turn a throwaway comment from an entertainment employee into evidence of bias at an affiliated news division is ludicrous.”
