The Associated Press is getting roasted after naming plagiarism a new weapon of conservatives.
On Tuesday, former Harvard University president Claudine Gay announced her resignation in the wake of plagiarism allegations — which came after she was facing criticism for her answer during a House hearing regarding antisemitism on college campuses.
In a post on X, formerly Twitter, the AP wrote, “Harvard president’s resignation highlights new conservative weapon against colleges: plagiarism.”
Harvard president's resignation highlights new conservative weapon against colleges: plagiarism https://t.co/GiVkT3LgUo
— The Associated Press (@AP) January 3, 2024
In the article attached to the post, the AP claimed, “The plagiarism allegations came not from her academic peers but her political foes, led by conservatives who sought to oust Gay and put her career under intense scrutiny in hopes of finding a fatal flaw.”
“Her detractors charged that Gay — who has a Ph.D. in government, was a professor at Harvard and Stanford and headed Harvard’s largest division before being promoted — got the top job in large part because she is a Black woman,” it added.
The outlet also claimed the “campaign against Gay and other Ivy League presidents has become part of a broader right-wing effort to remake higher education, which has often been seen as a bastion of liberalism.”
It did not take long for users on X to roast the idea of plagiarism being used as a weapon against the president of a prestigious university.
So don't plagiarize? It's not hard.
— Ian Miles Cheong (@stillgray) January 3, 2024
Wait, it’s conservatives’ fault she plagiarized?
— Pearl Bodine (@ChickenChoker8) January 3, 2024
You’d think nothing in the article could top the headline, but then you see @AP’s definition of scalping. https://t.co/BaC9cJaBjs pic.twitter.com/WORZ2IqISp
— John McCormack (@McCormackJohn) January 3, 2024
AP’s handbook:
— Emily Zanotti 🦝 (@emzanotti) January 3, 2024
“An AP staffer who reports and writes a story must use original content, language and phrasing. We do not plagiarize, meaning that we do not take the work of others and pass it off as our own.” https://t.co/TMLps1tPOD
This headline is something.
— JD Vance (@JDVance) January 3, 2024
Plagiarism is actually bad. It’s not a “conservative weapon.” https://t.co/nr4HQXC0a7
Harvard president's resignation highlights new conservative weapon against the Left: [insert any objective standard here] https://t.co/yzSJGGSwF4
— Ben Shapiro (@benshapiro) January 3, 2024
Academic integrity. What will these bastards come up with next? https://t.co/mctsauGtOo
— Michael Brendan Dougherty (@michaelbd) January 3, 2024
Come on, AP. https://t.co/R1t7V1ItSY
— Conor Friedersdorf (@conor64) January 3, 2024
It’s remarkable that conservatives, with all the pouncing and seizing they do, had the time to invent the concept of plagiarism over the last couple of months. https://t.co/dDHHlwJlVR
— Scott Jennings (@ScottJenningsKY) January 3, 2024
https://twitter.com/SonofHas/status/1742551384778584455
Pretty worried about this new chronoweapon that can force you to go back as many as 27 years in time and commit plagiarism. https://t.co/aIbm6h18VT
— Nate Silver (@NateSilver538) January 3, 2024
What? The new weapon is plagiarism? How about don’t plagerize?
— Adam Kinzinger (Slava Ukraini) 🇺🇸🇺🇦🇮🇱 (@AdamKinzinger) January 3, 2024
Just fyi this is the kind of stuff that kills media credibility in some people’s eyes. https://t.co/OxEUi94LKU
However, some such as Ibram X. Kendi, the head of the BU Center for Antiracist Research, argued the story “is journalism” because it got “closer to what truly happened and why.”