Conservatives Ask WaPo To Drop Label For Rubin, Call Kavanaugh Opposition ‘Final Straw’

Jennifer Rubin
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Washington Post columnist Jennifer Rubin’s objection to the confirmation of Brett Kavanaugh to the Supreme Court was the “final straw” that prompted a group of nearly 40 officials affiliated with prominent conservative groups to ask The Washington Post to stop labeling Rubin a conservative.

Led by the libertarian and socially conservative think tank American Principles Project, the group told the Post in a letter that it has a “credibility problem” and a lack of “intellectual diversity” on its opinion pages. The group said identifying Rubin as a conservative was “dishonest,” based on her writings on a slew of issues, like climate change, gun control and abortion.

“Rubin’s public opposition to Kavanaugh — even before any of these allegations came out — definitely served as the final straw that spurred this letter,” Terry Schilling, the executive director of the American Principles Project, told TPM on Thursday. “We’ve been circulating it for weeks. Conservatives have been frustrated with Rubin’s identification as a ‘conservative’ for years, especially because it leads to inaccurate ‘Conservative Columnist Criticizes GOP’ headlines.”

Rubin has been vocal about her opposition to President Donald Trump’s policies and parts of the Republican agenda since before Trump took office. She came out in opposition to Kavanaugh’s nomination before and after the allegations of sexual assault were levied against him in recent weeks.

The group of conservatives were adamant that they were not calling for Rubin’s firing, but rather want to see the Post “end the charade that she is in any way conservative,” and asked the publication to bring on more writers who can defend Republican policies, Schilling said.

TPM has reached out to the Washington Post and will update this post with their response.

Read the letter, sent to the Post’s editorial board on Wednesday, below:

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