ABC News Reporter Sasha Pezenik Under Fire After Posting Debunked Joe Biden Story

ABC News reporter Sasha Pezenik is drawing harsh criticism on social media for a tweet regarding Joe Biden she sent out on Saturday night. The hashtag #FireSashaPezenik began trending Sunday morning after the news story tied to Pezenik’s tweet was debunked. Even while the reporter posted an apology on Twitter for fueling the rumors, some critics were saying the excuse wasn’t enough, and the reporter should lose her job.

“Last night I posted a tweet about Vice President Biden. The allegations in my tweet had not been vetted or put through the ABC News standards process. I have since removed the tweet and I apologize for posting it.”

The tweet in question was in regards to an event Biden was said to have attended back in 2008. Eva Murray, the niece of one-time Republican Senate hopeful Christine O’Donnell, said Biden made inappropriate comments towards her. To make matters worse, Murray says she was just 14 years old at the time of the incident.

Once the report accusing Biden of sexual harassment of a teen began circulating, it was quickly debunked. As The Inquisitr reported on Saturday, the organizer of the event was chief among those who worked to prove the claims false, providing evidence Biden wasn’t in attendance.

Among those who were calling for Pezenik’s firing was political commentator Malcolm Nance. He tweeted he believed that Pezenik didn’t merely post an inaccurate story about Biden; he thought the reporter was engaged in a “hit job” against the presidential hopeful.

“Termination, not apology. It was a deliberate hit job where she had the facts in hand but decided to print a patently false story anyway. It’s not journalism.”

Other Twitter users posited theories that Pezenik is either a dupe or is actively working for the Trump campaign’s agenda. Still, others believe she is a Bernie supporter who is attempting to take her revenge on Biden for winning the Democratic party’s nomination fight.

While some on the social media platform were calling for Pezenik to resign or be fired from ABC News because she was attempting to hinder the democratic candidate’s presidential hopes, the Biden campaign’s Director of Rapid Response, Andrew Bates, painted a different picture.

Bates retweeted a post from the Washington Post‘s Dave Weigel who pointed out Pezenik was also among the first to debunk the story. Weigel said the reporter was the first to get the organizers to confirm the former vice president never attended. Bates added he believed she operated in “total good faith” and others misinterpreted what she was trying to do.