'Time' Reporter: 'Can't Wait' to Defend Drone That 'Takes Out' Wikileaks Founder

Time senior national correspondent Michael Grunwald caused a stir Saturday night with a tweet from his verified Twitter account that said, “I can’t wait to write a defense of the drone strike that takes out” Wikileaks founder Julian Assange.

After a backlash, Grunwald quickly deleted the tweet, and Time just as quickly distanced itself from Grunwald’s comment.  

Before he announced he would delete the Assange tweet, Grunwald apparently attempted to defend it by pushing back against the “Don’t Tread On Me Crowd” with a link to an April 13 Time story in which Grunwald defended the Surveillance State against those on the political right and left opposed to the “Big Government nanny state”:

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Thanks for your input, Don’t Tread on Me crowd. Here’s a sense of why I disagree with you. http://t.co/n2YvKnEiQG

— Michael Grunwald (@MikeGrunwald) August 17, 2013

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Within an hour, Grunwald apologized:

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It was a dumb tweet. I’m sorry. I deserve the backlash. (Maybe not the anti-Semitic stuff but otherwise I asked for it.)

— Michael Grunwald (@MikeGrunwald) August 18, 2013

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A Twitter timestamp reveals that Grunwald has not tweeted since 8:46pm Saturday evening.

 

Follow  John Nolte on Twitter @NolteNC