Scientific American editor steps down after election comments draw backlash
《科学美国人》编辑因选举言论引发强烈反对而辞职© Matt McClain/The Washington Post
©马特·麦克莱恩/华盛顿邮报

Laura Helmuth announced her resignation as editor-in-chief of the Scientific American on Thursday after facing backlash for comments she made about the 2024 election and voters.
周四，劳拉·赫尔穆斯 (Laura Helmuth) 宣布辞去《科学美国人》主编一职，此前她对 2024 年大选和选民的评论遭到强烈反对。

“I’ve decided to leave Scientific American after an exciting 4.5 years as editor in chief,” she wrote in a post on the social media site Bluesky. “I’m going to take some time to think about what comes next (and go birdwatching).”
“在担任了令人兴奋的 4.5 年主编之后，我决定离开《科学美国人》，”她在社交媒体网站 Bluesky 上的一篇帖子中写道。 “我将花一些时间考虑接下来会发生什么（并去观鸟）。”

Helmuth did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
赫尔穆斯没有立即回应置评请求。

Kimberly Lau, president of the magazine, said in a statement that it was Helmuth’s decision to leave, and the magazine is already seeking a new editor.
该杂志社长刘金佰 (Kimberly Lau) 在一份声明中表示，赫尔穆斯决定离职，该杂志已经在寻找新的编辑。

“We thank Laura for her four years leading Scientific American during which time the magazine won major science communications awards and saw the establishment of a reimagined digital newsroom,” Lau said in a statement. “We wish her well for the future.”
刘在一份声明中表示：“我们感谢劳拉四年来领导《科学美国人》，在此期间，该杂志赢得了重要的科学传播奖项，并建立了一个重新构想的数字新闻编辑室。” “我们祝愿她未来一切顺利。”

Helmuth’s decision comes shortly after she was criticized for social media posts about the Nov. 5 election. In a series of Bluesky posts, which were later deleted, Helmuth wrote that “my Gen X is so full of f—ing fascists.” In another, she wrote, “Solidarity to everybody whose meanest, dumbest, most bigoted high school classmates are celebrating early results because f–k them to the moon and back.”
赫尔穆斯因在社交媒体上发布有关 11 月 5 日选举的帖子而受到批评后不久，她就做出了这一决定。赫尔穆斯在（中心化的社交媒体平台） Bluesky 的一系列帖子（后来被删除）中写道，“X世代（出生在1965年到1980年之间的人群）充满了该死的法西斯主义者。”在另一个帖子中，她写道：““向所有那些最卑鄙、最愚蠢、最偏执的高中同学表示团结，他们现在正在庆祝早期的选举结果，去他们的吧！”

In a third post, she wrote, “Every four years I remember why I left Indiana (where I grew up) and remember why I respect the people who stayed and are trying to make it less racist and sexist. The moral arc of the universe isn’t going to bend itself.”
在第三篇文章中，她写道：“每四年，我都会记起为什么我离开印第安纳州（我长大的地方），并记得为什么我尊重那些留下来并努力减少种族主义和性别歧视的人。宇宙的道德弧线不会自行弯曲。”

In a post that’s still online, Helmuth asked, “Any advice for what workplaces can do to help people who are devastated by the election?”
在网上仍然存在的一篇帖子中，赫尔穆斯问道：“对于工作场所可以采取哪些措施来帮助那些因选举而遭受重创的人们，您有什么建议吗？”

On Thursday, Nov. 7, Helmuth apologized for the posts, calling them “offensive and inappropriate.”
11 月 7 日星期四，赫尔穆斯为这些帖子道歉，称这些帖子“具有攻击性且不恰当”。

“I respect and value people across the political spectrum,” she wrote. “These posts, which I have deleted, do not reflect my beliefs; they were a mistaken expression of shock and confusion about the election results. These posts of course do not reflect the position of Scientific American or my colleagues. I am committed to civil communication and editorial objectivity.”
“我尊重并重视各个政治派别的人，”她写道。 “我删除的这些帖子并不反映我的信仰；他们错误地表达了对选举结果的震惊和困惑。这些帖子当然并不反映《科学美国人》或我的同事的立场。我致力于公民沟通和编辑客观性。”

A screenshot of her posts circulated on X, and one account called “The Rabbit Hole” asked its followers on Nov. 12 if Helmuth was “someone who is entirely dedicated to uncompromising scientific integrity?” or “a political activist who has taken over a scientific institution?”
她的帖子截图在 X 上流传，一个名为“The Rabbit Hole”的账户在 11 月 12 日向其粉丝询问 Helmuth 是否是“一个完全致力于不妥协科学诚信的人？”或者“接管了科学机构的政治活动家？”

Elon Musk, owner of X and close ally of president-elect Donald Trump, reacted to the post four minutes later with “the latter” — which spawned thousands of comments, replies and likes.
X 的所有者、川普的亲密盟友马斯克 (Elon Musk) 在四分钟后对赫尔穆斯的原帖和“The Rabbit Hole“的评论做出回应，引发了数千条评论、回复和点赞。

Lau, the president of Scientific American, did not respond to questions about whether Helmuth’s resignation was related to the backlash from Musk and others.
《科学美国人》社长刘没有回应有关赫尔穆斯辞职是否与马斯克等人的强烈反对有关的问题。

Helmuth has criticized Trump before. On Oct. 15, she wrote on Bluesky that “Trump’s racist rants are straight-up eugenics” while sharing a Scientific American article with a similar title.
赫尔穆斯此前曾批评过川普。 10 月 15 日，她在 Bluesky 上写道，“川普的种族主义言论是彻头彻尾的优生学”，同时分享了一篇类似标题的《科学美国人》文章。

Helmuth has previously worked as an editor at Smithsonian magazine, Slate and Science magazine, according to her LinkedIn profile page. In 2016, she joined The Washington Post as a health and science editor. She left The Post in April 2020 to become editor-in-chief of the Scientific American.
根据她的LinkedIn 个人资料页面，赫尔穆斯此前曾担任《史密森尼》杂志、《Slate》和《科学》杂志的编辑。 2016年，她加入《华盛顿邮报》，担任健康和科学编辑。她于 2020 年 4 月离开《华盛顿邮报》，成为《科学美国人》的主编。