Sh*tty Man of the Day, November 20th, 2017: Glenn Thrush of the 'NYTimes'

By Dustin Rowles | Politics | November 20, 2017 |

By Dustin Rowles | Politics | November 20, 2017 |

Those of you who have followed political coverage at all for the last year are probably familiar with Glenn Thrush, the powerful NYTimes reporter whose byline could often be seen next to that of Maggie Haberman. He came over from Politico, and has been a constant presence in coverage of Donald Trump this year. He’s the guy who was caricatured by Bobby Moynihan on those Saturday Night Live Sean Spicer sketches. He was also a huge advocate for female reporters, or so he said.

He’s also yet another shitty dude in the media. He was suspended by the NYTimes today after a Vox report came out detailing many, many instances of inappropriate sexual conduct with female reporters (most of whom were in their 20s and just starting out).

The Vox report paints a picture of a powerful reporter who would often get shit-faced, hit on and make out with young journalists, who often rebuffed him. The next day, he would send apologetic texts and emails all the while telling his male colleagues that the female journalists had come on to him.

The source said that Thrush frequently told versions of this story with different young women as the subject. He would talk up a night out drinking with a young attractive woman, usually a journalist. Then he’d claim that she came onto him. In his version of these stories, Thrush was the responsible grown-up who made sure nothing happened.

These incidents are plentiful, and date back to his days at Politico. A whisper network of warnings had developed around him. Thrush, for his part, doesn’t deny the accusations, but seems to blame it on heavy drinking provoked by a series of personal and health crises. He said he’ll be attending a substance abuse program.

The allegations against Thrush are the latest in a series that have derailed the careers of powerful men in media, including NPR news chief Michael Oreskes and Lockhart Steele, the editorial director of Vox Media.

Update: Glenn Thrush statement on the allegations. It’s … not good.

Full statement from Glenn Thrush on the allegations that got him suspended pic.twitter.com/NvduNQP5fa

— Tom Kludt (@TomKludt) November 20, 2017

Source: Vox, NYTimes