Breitbart employees infuriated by colleagues' 'appalling' comments after London terror attack

London terror attacks: How they unfolded
London terror attacks: How they unfolded

Breitbart employees expressed strong displeasure on Sunday with two of their colleagues for inflammatory comments posted to Twitter in the aftermath of the London terror attack.

"I find it appalling," one Breitbart employee told CNN.

"It's a terrible comment," another Breitbart employee told CNN, saying it was wrong to make a blanket statement about an entire religious group. "I would never write what she said."

A third Breitbart employee described the comments as "dumb."

Following the attack in London, which left at least seven dead and scores more wounded, Breitbart writer Katie McHugh tweeted, "There would be no deadly terror attacks in the U.K. if Muslims didn't live there."

"You're a real moron," actor Pej Vahdat replied.

"You're an Indian," shot back McHugh, incorrectly identifying the ethnicity of the actor, who is Iranian-American.

Other Twitter users pointed out that McHugh's original tweet indicated that she was either ignoring or perhaps ignorant of the history of deadly terror in the U.K. by groups like the predominantly Catholic Irish Republican Army.

Another Breitbart writer, Ryan Saavedra, retweeted McHugh's initial remark, writing in a now-deleted tweet, "People think I'm kidding when I say this but the crusades need to come back."

"This s--t won't stop until people grow a pair of balls," Saavedra added.

It was not clear if Saavedra or McHugh's comments violated company standards or if they would face any disciplinary action. A spokesperson for Breitbart did not respond to multiple requests for comment.

McHugh has a history of posting racially tinged remarks on social media. She once tweeted, "Mexicans wrecked Mexico & think invading the USA will magically cure them them of their retarded dysfunction. LOL." In other tweets, she was disparaging of other cultures and contended "another Crusade would do a lot of good."

Breitbart is a highly trafficked right-wing news website previously headed by White House chief strategist Stephen Bannon. Its leadership has repeatedly denied it serves as a platform for those with hateful views. Earlier this year, Breitbart Editor-in-Chief Alex Marlow told NBC News he believes the website is mischaracterized by the media.

"We are not a hate site," Marlow said.

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