Bloomberg revises story on Trump Labor pick who was reinstated

Bloomberg Law has revised a story that prompted a Labor Department official to temporarily resign after the outlet characterized Facebook posts as “anti-Semitic” that the official has said were written sarcastically.

The original article, posted under the headline “Trump Labor Aide Quits After Anti-Semitic Facebook Posts Surface,” drew pushback from figures on the left and right who said the remarks highlighted were clearly sarcastic.

“In light of the subsequent events, we removed ‘Anti-Semitic’ from the headline and clarified Olson’s reference to those tropes,” reads an addendum to the story about Labor Department official Leif Olson.

{mosads}Olson, a political appointee who began serving as a senior policy adviser for the department’s Wage and Hour Division last month, had resigned Friday after the publication surfaced 2016 Facebook posts in which he and a friend joked about then-House Speaker Paul Ryan’s (Wis.) resounding primary victory over GOP challenger Paul Nehlen, an open anti-Semite.

The Labor Department said in a statement this week that Olson would be reinstated.

“Following a thorough reexamination of the available information and upon reflection, the Department has concluded that Mr. Olson has satisfactorily explained the tone of the content of his sarcastic social media posts and will return to his position in the Wage and Hour Division,” the department said in a statement.

I’m grateful to be heading back to work. Thank you, Acting Secretary @PatPizzellaDOL and @WHD_DOL Administrator Cheryl Stanton for the opportunity to continue to serve. https://t.co/l7syrnVeyo

— Leif Olson (@olsonleif) September 4, 2019

Figures on the left and right had argued the posts resurfaced by Bloomberg were clearly meant to be sarcastic and not a sincere expression of anti-Semitism.

The Anti-Defamation League, which initially condemned the online remarks, told The Washington Post, “We appreciate Mr. Olson’s clarification that he intended to be sarcastic with his posts and accept his explanation of the content in question.”