CNN photo editor who resigned over 'Jewish pigs' tweet claims he was victim of 'coordinated attack'

The CNN photo editor who apologized and resigned last month over a tweet that referred to Jews as “Jewish pigs” now claims he was the target of a “coordinated attack” by President Trump’s allies.

Mohammed Elshamy resigned on July 25 under pressure from CNN over several resurfaced posts, including a 2011 tweet that appeared to celebrate the death of “4 jewish pigs” by a “Palestinian bomb” in Jerusalem. CNN at the time condemned Mr. Elshamy’s remarks as “anti-Semitic” and accepted his resignation. Mr. Elshamy also apologized for the “offensive and hateful” comments he said he made when he was 16 years old.

“I want to unequivocally express my apology to everyone, especially those in the Jewish community, who were offended by the tweets,” Mr. Elshamy said at the time.

Now, speaking to The New York Times, the former CNN photo editor said he felt like his ouster was part of a larger scheme by President Trump’s allies.

“It felt like a coordinated attack,” Mr. Elshamy said, adding that he had received death threats. “It was overwhelming.”

“It is a very dirty tactic that they are using to cause as much harm as they can to anyone who is affiliated with these media outlets,” he said. “It actually feels like a competition and every termination or vilification is a point for them.”

Mr. Elshamy, now 25, said he posted the tweets when he was growing up in Egypt and when he did not fully comprehend what he was saying.

“I was repeating slogans heard on the streets during a highly emotional time in my nation’s history,” he said. “I believe that my subsequent work and views over the years redeems for the mistakes I made as a kid.”

Mr. Elshamy’s made the comments for a larger story Sunday in The New York Times, titled, “Trump Allies Target Journalists Over Coverage Deemed Hostile to White House,” that claims a loose network of conservative operatives allied with the White House “is pursuing what they say will be an aggressive operation to discredit news organizations deemed hostile to President Trump by publicizing damaging information about journalists.”