Scientific American Editor Resigns After Calling Some Trump Supporters ‘Fascists’

The editor in chief of Scientific American, the oldest continuously published magazine in the United States, has resigned more than a week after she posted comments on social media that called some supporters of President-elect Donald J. Trump “bigoted” and “fascists.” On election night, Laura Helmuth, who served as editor in chief of the publication for more than four years, posted a series of expletive-laden comments on Bluesky, a social platform. In one comment, she apologized to younger voters for Generation X being full of “fascists.” In another, she wrote, “Solidarity to everybody whose meanest, dumbest, most bigoted high-school classmates are celebrating early results,” according to screenshots of the posts. The posts, which have since been deleted, drew outrage from Trump supporters across social media. Many, including Elon Musk, accused her of failing to act as an impartial journalist and instead engaging in political activism. Some demanded her resignation. On Thursday, Ms. Helmuth said that she would be leaving the magazine to “take some time to think about what comes next” and, she added, “go bird-watching.” Her resignation announcement, which she shared on Bluesky, did not reference her previous posts. Ms. Helmuth had previously apologized for her posts, which she said were “offensive and inappropriate.” She attributed her comments to “shock and confusion about the election results” and said that they did not reflect the position of Scientific American or her colleagues. Kimberly Lau, the president of Scientific American, said in a statement that Ms. Helmuth had “decided to move on from her position” and thanked her for her time at the magazine. Ms. Helmuth declined to comment. Scientific American, which was founded in 1845 and reaches more than 10 million people around the world each month, has at times weighed in on American politics. In 2016, it ran an editorial warning of Mr. Trump’s “disregard, if not outright contempt,” for science but stopped short of endorsing Hillary Clinton. Four years later, the magazine issued its first formal endorsement of a presidential candidate, backing Joseph R. Biden Jr. in an editorial condemning Mr. Trump’s handling of the coronavirus pandemic. At the time, Ms. Helmuth told The New York Times that the magazine’s editors felt the endorsement was necessary, calling Mr. Trump’s first administration “a disaster for science at every level.” Earlier this year, Scientific American published an editorial endorsing Vice President Kamala Harris. After Mr. Trump’s victory, the magazine published an article on coping with election grief, which Ms. Helmuth also shared online. Ms. Helmuth received her Ph.D. in cognitive neuroscience from the University of California, Berkeley, and previously worked at The Washington Post, National Geographic, Slate, Smithsonian and Science. Under her tenure, Ms. Lau said, Scientific American “saw the establishment of a reimagined digital newsroom” and “won major science communication awards.” Since Election Day, several public figures have walked back statements critical of Mr. Trump’s supporters. The actresses Rachel Zegler and Christina Applegate also apologized after receiving backlash for anti-Trump comments on social media. Kate Christobek is a reporter covering the civil and criminal cases against former president Donald J. Trump for The Times. 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