BuzzFeed's Joseph Bernstein: Trump Admin Used Deporting Nazi as 'Political Stunt'

BuzzFeed reporter Joseph Bernstein accused the Trump administration Tuesday of using Nazi collaborator Jakiw Palij’s deportation as a “political stunt” and referred to ICE, the organization that carried out the removal, as a “xenophobic goon squad.”

In response to White House press secretary Sarah Sanders celebrating the removal of Palij on Twitter, Bernstein wrote, “My father denaturalized and deported Nazis for a living and he didn’t need a xenophobic goon squad to do it. The men and women of OSI would be disgusted by using deportations as a political stunt.”

The BuzzFeed reporter also shared a link to a New York Times story about his late father who worked for the Office of Special Investigations (OSI), a part of the Department of Justice that investigates war criminals such as former Nazis living in the United States.

Bernstein was not the only reporter to take issue with Palij’s removal. GQ‘s Nathaniel Friedman floated a conspiracy theory that the deportation was a “plant” to make ICE “look noble and heroic.” Friedman later deleted the tweet and claimed he was making a joke.

Comedian and mock Trump-beheader Kathy Griffin also had a hot take on the deportation of Palij, comparing members of the White House to “despicable Nazis.”

Griffin tweeted, “If ICE is in the business of removing despicable Nazis can they please head over to the White House?”