Analysis

The Washington Post Gave A Nicer Obituary To ISIS Leader Al-Baghdadi Than To Robert Trump

ISIS leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi is seen in an unspecified location. Department of Defense/Getty Images/Robert Trump attends American Ballet Theatre (ABT). Desiree Navarro/Getty Images
Virginia Kruta Associate Editor
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The Washington Post’s obituary for Robert Trump failed to match the positive tone struck by their obituary for former ISIS leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi.

President Donald Trump’s younger brother, 71, died Saturday in New York City — and the Washington Post led only with his recent lawsuit against his niece, Mary Trump, and the tell-all book she published attacking the president.

Many quickly noticed that the outlet had gone a different direction with the obituary for former ISIS leader Al-Baghdadi, calling him an “austere religious scholar” before backlash prompted an edit. (RELATED: WaPo Obituary Reframes Killed ISIS Leader al-Baghdadi As ‘Austere Religious Scholar’)

The response to Robert Trump’s obituary also resulted in a headline change from the Washington Post.

The new headline reads simply, “Robert Trump, younger brother of President Trump, dies at 71.”

The Washington Post was not alone in editorializing Robert Trump’s obituary. The Associated Press opened by suggesting that the younger Trump’s “even keel” was somehow out of place in the Trump family.

Robert Trump had been very ill in recent weeks and had even spent a week in Mount Sinai Hospital’s Intensive Care Unit in June, returning to the hospital just before he passed away on Saturday.

The president was able to see his brother, to whom he referred as his “best friend,” in the hours before his passing. Trump’s children shared their own thoughts about their uncle as well.