An NBC reporter who used to work for several Democratic lawmakers apologized on Dec. 3 after claiming that talk of Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) sending her son to an expensive private school when he was in grade school were attacks.
The author of the piece, Reason Foundation director of school choice Corey DeAngelis, noted that Warren has promoted public schools during her campaign but remained quiet about how she sent her son to a private school.
“I don’t blame her! I’m happy they had that option. But maybe Elizabeth Warren shouldn’t fight tooth and nail against extending similar opportunities to poor families,” he wrote.
Bush shared the article on Twitter, writing, “Elizabeth Warren was so ‘#PublicSchoolProud’ that she sent her son to expensive private schools for the majority of his K-12 education.”
Jonathan Allen, a political reporter for NBC, took offense at Bush sharing the piece.
“It used to be that polticians (sic) drew the line at attacking each other’s children,” he wrote. “But we live in different times.”
Twitter users reacted strongly to Allen’s assertion that Bush sharing the article was an attack on Warren’s son, with some noting that the son is now 43 years old.
“It used to be journalist drew the line at stating facts. But we live in different times,” one wrote.
“Don’t hurt yourself carrying all that water for Elizabeth Warren,” another said.
“It used to be journalists called out politicians like Warren for lying about sending their kids to public schools when they actually attended a private school. Now you people are biased activists,” another said.
Responding to one user who wondered how it was an attack on Warren’s kids, Allen added, “Yes, the lie. That’s a good reason to call out a politician. She lied. She sent one of her kids to private school for half his education but doesn’t believe in private school vouchers! That’s getting at the (now adult) kid for decisions made when he was a kid.”
Allen later apologized to Bush, seeming to realize that the line Bush shared in his tweet was taken from the article. “Apologies to @JebBush — I’m told his tweet is what automatically populates into a tweet when you click on the link to the piece he tweeted out. I thought it was out of sync with the way he normally speaks in political realm—whether it is or not, they appear not to be his words,” he wrote.
Allen used to work for several Democratic lawmakers, including former Sen. Paul Sarbanes (D-Md.) and at Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz (D-Fla.)’s super PAC.
Allen’s bio on the network’s website does not mention his past political work.
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