Top News Networks Under Fire For Eulogizing Ayatollah Khamenei

The Washington Post is taking heat after describing Iran’s slain supreme leader as a soft-spoken poetry lover in an obituary that critics say glossed over the iron grip he held on the Islamic Republic.

Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, killed Saturday in a sweeping Israeli strike on Tehran, was remembered by the paper as having a “bushy white beard and an easy smile.”

“With his bushy white beard and easy smile, Ayatollah Khamenei cut a more avuncular figure in public than his perpetually scowling but much more revered mentor, and he was known to be fond of Persian poetry and classic Western novels, especially Victor Hugo’s ‘Les Misérables.’ But like the uncompromising Khomeini, he opposed moderates’ efforts to promote political and social reforms domestically and to secure rapprochement with the United States,” the Post wrote in its obituary of the supreme leader.

Khamenei was eliminated alongside other senior regime figures during “Operation Epic Fury,” a coordinated U.S.-Israeli military assault that rocked the Iranian capital. While the obituary detailed his consolidation of power and responsibility for thousands of deaths, critics seized on the warm-toned opening as tone-deaf.

“This is sick,” Sen. Ted Cruz posted on X in response to the paragraph.

Jennifer Sey, founder of XX-XY Athletics, blasted the framing as “peak TDS.”

Actor James Woods added, “This is not satire,” as he reposted the description.

The backlash quickly spread to the The New York Times, which also characterized Khamenei as “avuncular” in its own obituary. The Times’ write-up similarly noted his literary interests and contrasted his demeanor with that of Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, drawing fresh accusations from critics who argue legacy media outlets are too quick to humanize hostile foreign leaders.

NATO Leadership Stuns Democrats, Endorses Trump’s Action In Iran

The controversy revived memories of 2019, when the Post described ISIS chief Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi as an “austere religious scholar” after his death during President Donald Trump’s first term. Some commentators said the language surrounding Khamenei felt like a replay.

Meanwhile, the military campaign against Iran is expected to continue for days. Officials told Fox News that Israel is targeting Iranian leadership figures, while U.S. forces are striking military facilities and ballistic missile sites considered an “imminent threat.”

Trump warned Sunday that Tehran would face overwhelming consequences for any retaliation. If Iran were to “hit very hard,” he said, they would be met with “a force that has never been seen before.”

NATO Leadership Stuns Democrats, Endorses Trump’s Action In Iran