A Washington Post reporter living in East Hampton wished a boil on one CNN The author reprimands her for saying that everyone she interacts with wears an N95 mask.
Hannah Salinger and Rebecca Bodenheimer sparked a feud for everyone on Saturday over Bodenheimer’s suggestion that Salinger’s continued reliance on medical-grade face masks was irrational and privileged.
Salinger, who divides her time between the luxurious East Hampton and Boxford, MassachusettsThen in a multi-tweet attack on Bodenheimer.
She also suggests that her online foe deserves to develop painful spots for her stubbornness.
The controversy began with a series of tweets from Bodenheimer, which read: ‘If you come here and say *everyone* you interact wearing an N95, I have no choice but to believe that You interact with a very small subset of people – mostly middle/upper class and working from home – and that you get most of the things delivered to your home by service personnel.’
Bodenheimer, who lives in Oakland, continued: ‘Just that way most Americans are not living at this point in the pandemic. You are free to wear the mask as long as you want but what you will not do is claim to represent the beliefs of a diverse cross-section of the population.’
She ended her stint by saying: ‘And the reason I know it is that I live in one of the most at-risk cities in the country, but also one of the most racially and economically diverse. I live hood-adjacent and my spouse is an essential worker who works *in the hood*. I see a variety of beliefs here.’
CNN contributor Rebecca Bodenheimer, left, found herself fighting a cyberattack with Washington Post writer Hannah Salinger, right, after calling people bragging about strict masking measures and Salinger realizing she was the person. what was being talked about
This is Bodenheimer’s thread that kicked off the exchange
Salinger realized she was the one being talked about, and issued a scathing response on Twitter
The controversy escalated when Bodenheimer admitted that she was referring to Salinger in her original thread – but defended herself by saying that she did not name Bodenheimer directly.
Salinger responded to an earlier tweet by Bodenheimer, saying that as long as they weren’t high-quality, masks made little difference.
Salinger wrote: ‘People are only wearing N95s at the moment. A mandate is important in some federal circumstances. You can’t expect people to do the right thing on an airplane. They will not.’
A freelancer who has worked for CNN, Vice, Politico and The Cut.
But Salinger—who writes for the Washington Post, the New York Times, and the Wall Street Journal—quickly took on Bodenheimer to work with the outrageous stream.
She quote-tweeted Bodenheimer’s original tweet thread and wrote: ‘Rebecca is tweeting about me because she’s a masked antagonist.’
Bodenheimer acknowledged that his original missive was actually referring to Salinger.
She defended herself by saying that she didn’t name Salinger or call him directly, and that she was just ‘observing.’
But a bit of ice was cut with that Salinger, who said: ‘The tweet was about me! Of course you were calling me! do not be ridiculous. That’s passive-aggressive crap.
‘Either say what you’re saying (incorrectly, according to our conversation) and own it, and the consequences, or not.
‘You know your tweet was wrong.’
Bodenheimer responded again to dispute Salinger’s claims of being a coward, insisting: ‘I was trying not to bother people.’
She took another jibe at Salinger’s extreme COVID-protection measures, writing: ‘I know not many people are as risk-averse as you and you shouldn’t assume that your beliefs extend to everyone else’ .’
This further infuriated Salinger, who then asked whether Bodenheimer should continue to tweet, provided he had followers who ‘harassed’ Salinger.
Bodenheimer exited the cyber war, telling Salinger that he was ‘done.’
This prompted Salinger to respond with a gif of a woman laughing hysterically.
The dispute ended when Bodenheimer said she no longer wanted to discuss it—prompting Salinger to send him the gift of an attractive woman.
But Salinger decided to have the final word, and suggested that she expect Bodenheimer to develop boils on her skin so that she could be taken to work on her own approach to masking.
Salinger then brought the squabble full-circle with a tweet of his own that didn’t mention anyone directly — but who wished a painful illness on Bodenheimer.
She wrote: ‘So strange when seemingly rational people turn anti-mask or anti-wax. It’s also always people with weak, slightly-heavy social followings, emirates? It’s hard to know what to wish on these people. Maybe boil?’
The fight between the two authors symbolizes the never-ending tension over COVID safeguards.
This is also a recent example of well-paid journalists publicly attacking each other online on petty issues.
COVID masking and vaccine mandates have largely been lifted as deaths from the virus drop across the US, even as new variants continue to infect and re-infect thousands of Americans.
It’s part of the exchange that ignited a fight between the two women, and prompted Bodenheimer to post his own series of tweets about privileged mask-wearers.
Many COVID-conscious Americans who have spoken out proudly
Meanwhile, Washington Post employee Felicia Sonmez was fired earlier this month after a multi-day rage at male colleague Dave Wigel after she retweeted a sexist joke that said all The women were bisexual or bipolar.
Wiegel apologized, but Sonmez continued to boast about his behavior, and called for disciplinary action against the journalist who defended him.
Other August publications have also been rocked by employees frequently attacking each other publicly on Twitter over social justice issues.
This has prompted him to warn employees to keep disputes private, with the New York Times also advising its reporters to stay away from Twitter altogether if they wish.