Legacy Media Obituaries Almost Forget to Mention Khamenei’s Murderous Repression

Legacy Media Obituaries Almost Forget to Mention Khamenei’s Murderous Repression

Legacy media obituaries for Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Khamenei made the ruthless tyrant sound like a teddy bear. From The Wall Street Journal, whose reporting has trended more progressive in recent years, to The Washington Post, which wears its progressive editorial orientation as a badge of honor, media outlets have beclowned themselves in their portrayals of a man who dedicated his life to murder and repression.

Borrowing from the Post’s widely ridiculed 2019 description of terrorist Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi as an “austere scholar,” the Journal’s characterization of Khamenei as an “austere cleric” left many readers appalled. But it was the obituaries from the Post and The New York Times that really grated.

From its headline, “Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, Hard-Line Cleric Who Made Iran a Regional Power, Is Dead at 86,” to the almost lyrical depiction of his “avuncular and magnanimous aloofness,” the Times’ empathy for this brutal dictator was on full display.

Sounding more like a eulogy, the Times’ obituary read: “With his spectacles, Palestinian kaffiyeh, long robes and silver beard, Ayatollah Khamenei cast himself as a religious scholar as well as a writer and translator of works on Islam. He affected an avuncular and magnanimous aloofness, running the country from a perch above the jousting of daily politics.”

The New York Times is getting roasted for its obituary headline on Ayatollah Khamenei, where he's described as a "Hard-Line Cleric Who Made Iran a Regional Power."

While Iranians celebrate in the streets after his death in U.S.-Israeli strikes, NYT wrote of him having an… pic.twitter.com/v0HQB7RXEa

— Fox News Flash (@FoxNews_Flash) March 2, 2026

Sen. Tim Sheehy (R-MT) was among many to point out the Times’ grotesque profile of a “radical Islamic terrorist” who was responsible for the deaths and grave injuries of tens of thousands of people worldwide, including many Americans.

NYT got the headline wrong. Let me help: Radical Islamic terrorist who murdered thousands of Americans got what he deserved.

There we go. https://t.co/Pphjcf5HOt

— Tim Sheehy (@TimSheehyMT) March 1, 2026

X account, The Libs of TikTok, compared the Times’ recent obituary for cartoonist and political commentator Scott Adams with its obituary for Khamenei to underscore just how stark the contrast was.

Also the New York Times— ‼️ pic.twitter.com/XKPiKjI0BD

— Missy in So Cal 🇺🇸🎹🤙🏻 MAGA/MAHA (@MissyIsMaga) March 1, 2026

Adams, you may recall, incurred the Left’s wrath in February 2023 after making so-called “racist remarks” about black Americans on his popular podcast. As a result, his Dilbert comic strip was dropped by major media outlets, including the Post, the Times, USA Today, The Los Angeles Times, and his syndicate, Andrews McMeel Universal.

According to Fox News, a Rasmussen poll released at the time asked participants two questions: “(1) Do you agree or disagree with this statement: ‘It’s OK to be white,’ (2) Do you agree or disagree with this statement: ‘Black people can be racist, too.’ The poll found that 26% of black respondents said ‘no’ to the first question, and 21% said they weren’t sure, which Adams concluded meant 47% had a negative response.”

Adams told listeners to his podcast, “If nearly half of all blacks are not okay with white people – according to this poll, not to me – that’s a hate group. That’s a hate group, and I don’t want anything to do with them.

He continued, “And I would say, based on the current way things are going, the best advice I can give to white people is to get the hell away from black people. There is no fixing this … you just have to escape.”

So, Adams was canceled and memorialized with a scathing obituary, while a brutal enemy of the U.S. was treated with conspicuous gentleness. The contrast is hard to ignore.

The Post‘s tribute was similar to the Times‘ except that they substituted “bushy white beard” for “silver beard.” Both outlets called Khamenei “avuncular,” which is defined as “kind, friendly, and benevolent in a slightly paternal or uncle-like way.”

Here’s an excerpt from the Post’s profile of Khamenei:

With his bushy white beard and easy smile, Ayatollah Khamenei cut a more avuncular figure in public than his perpetually scowling but much more revered mentor, and he was known to be fond of Persian poetry and classic Western novels, especially Victor Hugo’s “Les Misérables.”

This is an actual paragraph from The Washington Post’s obituary for Khamenei.

Just astonishing stuff. pic.twitter.com/BbPNLwN1w0

— Bonchie (@bonchieredstate) March 1, 2026

The legacy media’s coverage of this monster’s demise reads more like propaganda than news. One almost forgets that this austere scholar—this avuncular figure with a flowing silver beard—was responsible for so much death and suffering across the Middle East.

I’ll leave you with a particularly potent — and amusing — farewell wish to Khamenei from Victory Girl’s Lisa Carr: “Rest in peace to the Ayatollah, you jolly old soul with your bushy white beard. I wouldn’t wish sheep, or goats, or pigs as your 72 virgins. Animals are innocent. I hope all of your virgins are the insufferable, blue-haired Karens we’ve had to listen to over the past 10 years and you are in an eternity of their platitudes and shouting.”

Elizabeth writes commentary for Legal Insurrection and The Washington Examiner. She is an academy fellow at The Heritage Foundation. Please follow Elizabeth on X or LinkedIn.

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