Skip To Content
JEWISH. INDEPENDENT. NONPROFIT.
Fast Forward

Atlantic Editor Defends Writer Who Said Women That Get Abortions Should Be Hanged

Jeffrey Goldberg, editor of The Atlantic magazine, is defending his decision to hire a conservative writer who once advocated hanging women who get abortions in a tweet, Slate reported.

The magazine’s hiring of Kevin Williamson, formerly a writer for the National Review, raised eyebrows when it was revealed last week. Williamson is a fierce anti-Trump conservative, but has been criticized for making racially insensitive comments.

Goldberg, who used to work for the Forward, defended Williamson’s tendency to post offensive tweets in a memo sent to Atlantic staff. (Williamson no longer has a Twitter account.)

“I don’t think that taking a person’s worst tweets, or assertions, in isolation is the best journalistic practice,” Goldberg wrote. “I have read most, or much, of what he has written; some of his critics have not done the same. I would also prefer, all things being equal, to give people second chances and the opportunity to change.”

On Twitter, Goldberg’s statements were roundly criticized.


Goldberg defended Williamson by saying he speaks for a marginalized community.

“I happen to think that conservatives made ideologically homeless by the rise of Trump are some of the most interesting people in America, and I want to read them whenever I can,” Goldberg said.

Contact Ari Feldman at [email protected] or on Twitter @aefeldman

A message from our CEO & publisher Rachel Fishman Feddersen

I hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, I’d like to ask you to please support the Forward’s award-winning, nonprofit journalism during this critical time.

At a time when other newsrooms are closing or cutting back, the Forward has removed its paywall and invested additional resources to report on the ground from Israel and around the U.S. on the impact of the war, rising antisemitism and polarized discourse..

Readers like you make it all possible. Support our work by becoming a Forward Member and connect with our journalism and your community.

—  Rachel Fishman Feddersen, Publisher and CEO

Join our mission to tell the Jewish story fully and fairly.

Republish This Story

Please read before republishing

We’re happy to make this story available to republish for free, unless it originated with JTA, Haaretz or another publication (as indicated on the article) and as long as you follow our guidelines. You must credit the Forward, retain our pixel and preserve our canonical link in Google search.  See our full guidelines for more information, and this guide for detail about canonical URLs.

To republish, copy the HTML by clicking on the yellow button to the right; it includes our tracking pixel, all paragraph styles and hyperlinks, the author byline and credit to the Forward. It does not include images; to avoid copyright violations, you must add them manually, following our guidelines. Please email us at [email protected], subject line “republish,” with any questions or to let us know what stories you’re picking up.

We don't support Internet Explorer

Please use Chrome, Safari, Firefox, or Edge to view this site.