'Washington Post' Columnist Taylor Lorenz Under Fire for Alleged Joe Biden Criticism

In August 2024, senior Washington Post editors began investigating columnist Taylor Lorenz for possible breaches of the paper's standards. The issue reportedly involves a social media post where she allegedly shared an image of President Joe Biden with a critical caption.

So, what exactly did Taylor Lorenz say? Here's everything we know so far about this developing situation.

According to NPR, Taylor Lorenz attended a White House event for digital influencers on Wednesday, August 14. She posted a photo from the event on her Instagram story, visible only to her Close Friends list, showing Joe Biden in the background.

The caption read "War criminal," accompanied by a frowning face emoji.

However, four people who saw the Instagram story verified its authenticity to NPR. They requested anonymity due to the sensitive nature of the situation involving Lorenz.

A spokesperson for the Washington Post issued a statement, telling NPR, "Our executive editor and senior editors take alleged violations of our standards seriously. We're aware of the alleged post and are looking into it."

For those who may not know, many pro-Palestinian protesters have branded Joe Biden a "war criminal" due to the deaths in Gaza caused by Israel, a U.S. ally.

At the time of writing, the context of Taylor's social media post remains unclear. However, the phrasing, featuring a frowning face made with a colon and an open parenthesis, eerily resembles a popular meme.

This meme features Boygenius member Lucy Dacus using the "war criminal :(" phrase in a since-deleted tweet about former President Barack Obama after he included the group's song on his 2023 summer playlist.

With that said, there's a chance Taylor Lorenz was referencing Lucy's viral post.