Newsweek 'Senior Writer' Deletes Tweet Comparing Ted Cruz to Hitler. If You're Guessing That He Apologizes, You're Wrong

Newsweek senior writer Alexander Nazaryan took to Twitter to compare Texas Sen. Ted Cruz to Adolf Hitler — and that went over just about as well as you would expect.

"Ted Cruz has a strong ground game in Iowa," Nazaryan tweeted early Wednesday, along with a black-and-white picture showing Nazi soldiers carrying flags with swastikas.

Image source: Twitter

The late-night tweet unleashed a fury of backlash several hours later.

Delete your account. https://t.co/q83izOA6xV

— Allan TFH/RoEL/VLR (@allanbourdius) January 6, 2016

Actual tweet by a "journalist" https://t.co/ELNdvpHiuP

— Beach Politics (@PeteyPete92) January 6, 2016

Newsweek senior writer? WOW how irresponsible. https://t.co/spgdOVxhL7

— TracyJeffords (@TracyJeffords) January 6, 2016

And this 'journalist' still has his job.. https://t.co/CM3cMDUvdn

— Vach Nacht (@VachNacht) January 6, 2016

Why trust in journalism has eroded, example 95,010. h/t @AmateurPolSc https://t.co/MrRqbH90NT

— Gerry Daly (@GerryDales) January 6, 2016

Acknowledging the avalanche of negativity, Nazaryan later deleted the tweet — but stopped short of an apology.

"I deleted my tweet calling Ted Cruz a Nazi. Not fair to his totally decent supporters, as much as I dislike the man himself," Nazaryan said in a separate tweet.

I deleted my tweet calling Ted Cruz a Nazi. Not fair to his totally decent supporters, as much as I dislike the man himself.

— Alexander Nazaryan (@alexnazaryan) January 6, 2016

Newsweek Editor-in-Chief Jim Impoco responded to the tweet in a statement, expressing "disappointment."

"I apologize for any doubt that this might have cast on Newsweek's editorial integrity or credibility. We've addressed the situation with Alexander and the rest of the staff and will be reviewing and reiterating our social media policy in coming days," Impoco said.

On its website, Newsweek calls itself "a premier news magazine and website, bringing high-quality journalism to readers around the globe for over 80 years."

IBT Media, which is the parent company of Newsweek, states on its website that business, financial and economic writers should "avoid any practice which might compromise or appear to compromise his objectivity or fairness."

"It is imperative to the integrity and success of IBT Media that editorial and content contributors uphold the highest ethical and professional standards of journalism," the website states.

(H/T: Twitchy)

This post has been updated to include a statement from Newsweek Editor-in-Chief Jim Impoco.