Vox's Aaron Rupar blasts idea of Trump campaign selling face masks as 'next level MAGA grift'

With the Neutral Zone Infraction, Just the News tries to do its part to maintain the line between fact and opinion in American journalism by blowing the whistle each week on an egregious example of slanted coverage by reporters. This week's offender: Vox.com's Aaron Rupar.

Vox.com politics and policy associate editor Aaron Rupar on Thursday commented on a tweet in which Trump campaign manager Brad Parscale can be seen sporting a campaign-themed face mask.

Rupar described the notion of the president's campaign selling the masks as "next level MAGA grift."

"@realDonaldTrump face mask. More coming soon!" Parscale tweeted along with a photo of himself donning a campaign-themed facial covering. 

"The Trump campaign selling Trump-branded masks to stave off a deadly communicable disease Trump was unprepared for and has given up on mitigating is a next level MAGA grift," the self-described journalist wrote when retweeting Parscale's post.

Parscale also posted a second tweet showing a different colored mask. In a tweet Friday night Parscale indicated that "We are not selling them, they were give aways."

"Brad Parscale brought 5 prototype masks featuring the Trump reelection logo to a Thursday mtg with POTUS," the Washington Post's James Hohmann tweeted. "Trump was delighted & approved a mask for public sale. Parscale tweeted a pic of himself wearing it. This was the only time anyone involved in the meeting wore any covering."

"Well your source is horrible," Parscale shot back at Hohmann. "It was three not five. They are not prototypes. We already gave them away this week. We are not selling them, they were give aways."

Rupar, in a Friday tweet noting that Trump phoned in for an interview with a Fox News Channel morning program, wrote that the president was "in the process of having one of his public therapy sessions."

Rupar's blatantly opinionated comments clearly violate normal journalistic standards requiring neutrality. 

Part of the social media section within Vox Media's Editorial Ethics & Guidelines includes the following statement: "Behavior on social media is a reflection of both one’s personal and professional self and, as a voice of Vox Media and our editorial networks, we ask our editorial teams to apply the same journalistic integrity required in our editorial content when posting on social media, and to be conscious of their role within Vox Media and how their social posts could impact their work, the work of others, and Vox Media as whole."

Just the News attempted to reach out to Vox.com and Aaron Rupar for comment about the tweets and whether they violate Vox's standards but has not yet received a response.