Josh Marshall, editor and publisher of Talking Points Memo posted a Pornhub video to his Twitter account just after midnight on Dec. 31, apparently by accident.
They did say targeting close associates https://t.co/ztycrEDQ2L
— Josh Marshall (@joshtpm) December 31, 2016
Marshall probably meant to post a link to a news item, but instead ended up posting a video depicting a moment of intimacy between two women referred to as Angela and Strawberry. The cunnilingus that occurs in the video does not appear to have sociopolitical implications, as far as we can tell.
One Twitter detective seems to have figured out what Marshall was trying to do:
Still, Marshall’s caption, “They did say targeting close associates” works pretty well with the Pornhub video anyway, as one Twitter user pointed out:
@joshtpm as associates go it doesn't get much closer than that.
— Dan Wuori (@dwuori) December 31, 2016
Reactions to the Tweet so far have been generally positive:
.@krubin @joshtpm i'm not understanding the analogy but i'm LOVING the new TPM
— Steven Blum (@stevenblum) December 31, 2016
.@joshtpm @Pornhub this is your best tweet
— Juggalocialism (@UweBollocks) December 31, 2016
.@joshtpm I have literally never been this happy
— Luke Savage (@LukewSavage) December 31, 2016
Another comment, posted 10 minutes after the pornographic Tweet, cautions:
@joshtpm seriously bro you gotta hurry up and finish so you can realize you tweeted this out
— Comfortably Smug (@ComfortablySmug) December 31, 2016
Josh appears to have realized his mistake and is handling the attention pretty well, given the circumstances. He has not deleted the tweet as of this writing, and has chosen instead to face his goof head-on:
Um. Josh? Did @susiebright take over your account? https://t.co/SOZtuB18ss
— Lee Stranahan (@stranahan) December 31, 2016
Remember, she is a golden dukes judge https://t.co/QVFvv9gNcq
— Josh Marshall (@joshtpm) December 31, 2016
(Note: Susie Bright is a feminist journalist who writes a lot about sexuality.)
Marshall also retweeted this comment:
@ParrishWalton @mmonast @joshtpm what does targeting the close associates mean?
— Sean Orleans (@SeanOrleans) December 31, 2016
All in all, Josh Marshall is a cautionary tale as to why you should never wank and blog at the same time. But so far, he is a shining example of how to face a major public embarrassment with grace and good humor.
12/31/2016 4:03:54 PM IMPORTANT UPDATE:
Josh Marshall has released an official statement regarding the pornographic tweet:
Got an email form Eve Peyser at Gizmodo asking about my tweet last night. Here's what I sent her. pic.twitter.com/SOTbta2cP6
— Josh Marshall (@joshtpm) December 31, 2016
 - https://hornet.com/stories/talking-points-memo-editor-josh-marshall-accidentally-tweets-lesbian-porn/){kind=link}