The New Republic faced swift backlash online after publishing an article Wednesday detailing the political donations of the CEO of the missing Titan submersible.
The left-wing publication claims to have obtained financial records which reveal Stockton Rush, the CEO of OceanGate, has been a Republican donor for years, according to an article titled, “OceanGate CEO Missing in Titanic Sub Had History of Donating to GOP Candidates.”
Rush is currently stuck on the Titan submarine, and reports claim that he and the rest of the passengers only have enough oxygen to survive until mid-day Thursday. (RELATED: ‘Dangerous Environment’: Titanic Expedition Leader Holding Out Little Hope For Lost Submersible)
The New Republic claims that Rush was not a megadonor, but ” his donations over the years leaned heavily toward Republican candidates.” These donations reportedly include then presidential-candidate George Bush in 1979. The publication adds that OceanGate executives have come under intense scrutiny amid ongoing coverage of the submarine’s disappearance.
Online commentators largely slammed the outlet for the article.
“I’m actually speechless,” political pundit Dave Rubin tweeted.
I’m actually speechless… pic.twitter.com/IsFfGfm2vI
— Dave Rubin (@RubinReport) June 21, 2023
“Not sure which is more interesting: that this was published by a team, and not one person thought to say, ‘this is extremely gross,’ or the headline’s use of the past tense ‘had,’ as if the New Republic knows something the rest of us don’t,” T. Beckett Adams, program director of the National Journalism Center, tweeted.
“The New Republic thinks the CEO of Oceangate deserves to suffocate on the bottom of the ocean because he supported Republicans,” Nicholas Fondacaro, associate editor at the Media Research Center, tweeted.
“The New Republic is very proud of this despicable story,” Andrew Kerr, investigative reporter for Washington Free Beacon, wrote.
Amid the negative reception of the article, The New Republic deleted the tweet. The article is still published on their website.
The Titan submersible went missing on Sunday, shortly after deploying for a journey to explore the ruins of the Titanic, according to The New York Times. The craft was set to travel 13,000 feet underwater to the ocean floor of Newfoundland, Canada. Roughly one hour and 45 minutes after its deployment, Titan lost contact with its surface ship. As of Tuesday, the five passengers on the expedition craft reportedly had roughly 40 hours of oxygen left, Capt. Jamie Frederick of the U.S. Coast Guard said at a conference.
Search-and-rescue teams have not been able to locate the submersible thus far. Even if the teams were able to locate the vehicle, ocean pressure and lack of light could make it incredibly difficult to execute a rescue operation.