Yahoo! Fires Bureau Chief After Caught Saying GOP Okay Having 'Party With Black People Drowning

Yahoo! News Washington bureau chief David Chalian has been terminated for remarks he made during a Monday webcast of ABCNews.com's coverage of the Republican National convention in Tampa, Florida.

"David Chalian's statement was inappropriate and does not represent the views of Yahoo!" TheBlaze was told in an emailed statement.

"He has been terminated effective immediately. We have already reached out to the Romney campaign, and we apologize to Mitt Romney, his staff, their supporters and anyone who was offended," the statement adds.

Earlier in the day, Chalian's comments came to light.

"They're not concerned at all. They're happy to have a party with black people drowning," he said, referencing the GOP convention in Tampa, Fla., as Hurricane Isaac set its sights on the Gulf Coast.

You can hear him deliver the remarks here.

UPDATE -- To Yahoo! News' credit, they aren't shying away from owning up to callous remarks made by one of their former employees. They even tweeted out their apology:

UPDATE II -- Shortly after his termination was announced, Washington Week editor and PBS correspondent Gwen Ifill tweeted the following:

Tweets like that could help explain why Ifill was left off the list of 2012 presidential debate moderators.

Unsurprisingly, after tweeting that she stood with "God’s gift" to journalism, Ifill was met with a heavy barrage of Twitter snark:

And how did she respond to being criticized? By embracing the whole Republicans-are-totally-racist narrative, of course:

The link she provides takes you to this article which, of course, argues the GOP is really racist.

UPDATE III-- Chalian has formally apologized for his "inappropriate and thoughtless joke":

Here's his statement in full:

I am profoundly sorry for making an inappropriate and thoughtless joke. I was commenting on the challenge of staging a convention during a hurricane and about campaign optics. I have apologized to the Romney campaign, and I want to take this opportunity to publicly apologize to Gov. and Mrs. Romney. I also regret causing any distraction from the exceptional coverage of the Republican convention by Yahoo News and ABC News.

Follow Becket Adams (@BecketAdams) on Twitter.