Politico Reporter Suspended for Romney 'White Folks' Comment

(Newsroom America) -- A Politico reporter who said GOP presidential nominee Mitt Romney was only comfortable around "white folks" was suspended by the news organization late Thursday, reports said.

The controversial remarks, which were first reported by the Washington Free Beacon, were made by Joe Williams, during an interview with MSNBC's "Martin Bashir Live."

"POLITICO reporter Joe Williams has been suspended pending review of recent controversial comments he made on television and Twitter, POLITICO editors informed staff late Thursday night," the news organization said in a blog announcement on its Web site.

"On MSNBC today, Williams made a remark suggesting Mitt Romney was only comfortable around white people. The video was first flagged by conservative website Washington Free Beacon. Breitbart.com ran the video and also flagged a series of tweets Williams had written that made fun of the Republican candidate, particularly in regard to his wealth," the site said.

"Regrettably, an unacceptable number of Joe Williams's public statements on cable and Twitter have called into question his commitment to this responsibility," POLITICO's founding editors John Harris and Jim VandeHei wrote in a memo to staff. "His comment about Governor Romney earlier today on MSNBC fell short of our standards for fairness and judgment in an especially unfortunate way."

Later in the memo, Harris and VandeHei reminded staff that "POLITICO journalists have a clear and inflexible responsibility to cover politics fairly and free of partisan bias."

Breitbart.com noted on Thursday that Williams has a history of making controversial remarks about Romney on Twitter, including one ill-advised “joke” about the former Massachusetts governor’s sexual organ.

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