New York Times op-ed writer Bari Weiss had to delete a snarky tweet she posted after Mirai Nagasu landed her historic triple axel at the Olympics because she thought the figure skater was an immigrant. She’s not. She’s as American as apple pie and, one supposes, Bari Weiss.
"Immigrants: we get the job done,” Weiss tweeted when Nagasi became the first American woman to land the rare figure skating move, the Huffington Post reported. The landing gained Nagasi second in women's free skate score and helped Team USA win a bronze, CNN reported.
Nagasi, 24, though, is not an immigrant, as the HuffPost pointed out. Her parents were Japanese immigrants, but Nagasi was born in California and maintained U.S. and Japanese citizenship until she was 22.
The tweet by Weiss on Monday sparked a strong backlash, with many calling the message racist.
After trying to defend her tweet, Weiss deleted it, leaving two posts as an explanation.