

Here's the tweet, which has been deleted:

Grunwald has apologized and TIME released a statement: "Michael Grunwald posted an offensive tweet from his personal Twitter account that is in no way representative of TIME's views. He regrets having tweeted it, and he removed it from his feed."


Politico deputy editor Blake Hounshell:

Australian journalist and radio host Mark Colvin:

Guardian editor James Ball: 

Kade Ellis of Privacy SOS: 

 GlobalPost editor Erin Cunningham:

Here's the apology:

It's unclear why Grunwald was discussing Assange — who is a publisher, writer, activist, and facilitator of leaking information — though WikiLeaks did just released a massive, encrypted insurance file.



Assange, who is currently residing in Ecuador's London embassy, was also instrumental in NSA whistleblower and leaker Edward Snowden flying to Russia.

In any case, Grunwald's stance is shocking.