Politico ‘fires’ reporter for trashing Pope Benedict XVI in a tweet where he called him a ‘homophobic pedophile protector and Hitler Youth alumnus’ before deleting it and apologizing

• A Politico reporter appears to have lost his job after a tweet about the late Pope
• Cybersecurity reporter Eric Geller mocked Pope Benedict XVI after his death
• Geller called him a ‘homophobic pedophile protector and Hitler Youth alumnus’
• Despite deleting the tweet and apologizing, he has updated an online resume
• Politico VP of communications would not comment but said it breached policy

A Politico reporter who called Pope Benedict XVI a ‘homophobic pedophile protector and Hitler Youth alumnus’ after he died last month appears to have been fired, according to his LinkedIn profile and personal website.

Eric Geller, who wrote about cybersecurity for Politico for more than six years, caused controversy after sharing the late Pope’s death on Twitter with an offensive caption on December 31, hours after his passing was announced.

‘Homophobic pedophile protector and Hitler Youth alumnus dead at 95,’ Geller said in full, in a since-deleted tweet.

When asked if Geller was fired, Politico’s vice president of marketing and communications Brad Dayspring declined to comment but pointed to a tweet of his own suggesting Geller’s comment violated company policy and could lead to termination.

Politico cybersecurity reporter Eric Geller appears to have lost his job after an offensive tweet about the late Pope

‘Homophobic pedophile protector and Hitler Youth alumnus dead at 95,’ Geller said in full, in a since-deleted tweet

Hours after Geller posted the tweet he removed it, saying: ‘I deleted the tweet about Pope Benedict that was offensive and in poor judgment.’

Since then, his personal website, according to internet archives, has gone from describing him as ‘a cybersecurity reporter at Politico’ to a ‘cybersecurity journalist in Washington, D.C.’

He has similarly changed his Twitter bio to remove any reference to Politico, and changed his LinkedIn information to indicate his role there came to an end in January 2023.

Geller did not respond to DailyMail.com for confirmation that he was fired by Politico.

Pope Benedict died on December 31 in the Vatican after a long battle with illness. He served as the head of the Catholic Church from 2005 until his resignation in 2013.

Geller’s Twitter bio before the tweet (left) refers to his employment at Politico. A new bio no longer refers to the outlet and describes him simply as a ‘journalist’

Born Joseph Aloisius Ratzinger, he was required to join the Hitler Youth aged 14 while growing up in Nazi Germany. At 16, he was conscripted into antiaircraft work and drafted into the army at 21, the Washington Post reported.

His history was a sensitive and controversial issue for the Catholic Church, which had historically come under criticism for its neutrality during the Second World War. 

Benedict has since given an account of that portion in his life, and explained that he was forced to join the Nazi youth organization at a certain age and that a kind Math teacher helped him to avoid attending meetings.

In 2013 he became the first pontiff in 600 years to resign and left at a time when the Catholic Church was steeped in sexual abuse and pedophilia scandals.

Pope Benedict died on December 31 in the Vatican after a long battle with illness. He served as the head of the Catholic Church from 2005 until his resignation in 2013

Hours after Geller posted the tweet he removed it, saying: ‘I deleted the tweet about Pope Benedict that was offensive and in poor judgment’

Dayspring said at the time that ‘the tweet is a clear violation of our social media policy’ and could lead to termination

Dayspring tweeted later on December 31 saying: ‘The tweet is a clear violation of our social media policy and was both inaccurate and offensive.

‘Violations of company policy – including social media policy – are subject to an internal review process.

‘Without commenting further on this specific matter (as it is under review), violations of company policy could result in disciplinary action, up to and including termination.’ 

When asked whether Geller had is employment terminated, Dayspring told DailyMail.com, ‘as a matter of policy we do not comment on personnel or disciplinary matters’ and referred only to his existing tweet.

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