MACOMB TOWNSHIP, Mich. – A Macomb Township pastor is facing backlash online over an email he sent to a journalist in response to a quote attributed to the woman that was later identified as fake.
The email Rev. Dave Muns sent to journalist Sarah Jeong was posted on Jeong’s Twitter account Tuesday afternoon.
“How about if we took all the little bitter Asian woman and had a lottery and cut their (explicit) like the Muslims do. Not a very classy position is it, neither is your trashy little bitter personality towards white men. Only in a world where journalism is controlled by brain dead Liberals do you people even have jobs,” read Muns' email.
The pastor was reportedly responding to a meme sent to him with a quote attributed to Jeong, who is a former member of the New York Times editorial board, which said there should be a castration lottery for white men.
“My response is terrible, but what I was responding to was simply reversed of exactly what she posted towards white men and I just reversed it and said, ‘How would you feel?’” Muns said.
However, the meme is one of several that were debunked by Snopes.com two years ago and confirmed to Local 4 News on Tuesday by Jeong.
“Should I have responded? Probably not, but in light of the summer we’ve had, all that’s going on, I just caved," Muns said.
The entire ordeal is something Muns plans to discuss with his congregation Sunday.
“We’ll address it and I will first apologize to them for responding to something that I should’ve let go like the thousand others that have come down the tube this summer," he said.
After learning that the original information was fake, Muns said he intended to apologize to Jeong.
On Wednesday afternoon, the pastor reached out to Local 4 to share his apology to Jeong -- as his email account was suspended amid the incident.
“Ms. Jeong ... I understand my email was off base, as I have been informed that it is not something you said. Ms. Jeong, when I read it and having prior knowledge to your position on the white race I just assumed it was an accurate post -- bad mistake. For months we have been juggling peace within our country between races and (with) pastoring an inter-racial church, that (post) just threw me over the top. My attempt to reverse the roles in my email was wrong and out of frustration and anger as I viewed the meme as gas on a fire.
"Yes I am human and should never have assumed it was true or gone to such extremes to make a point. My attitude was wrong and I believe a bit fueled due to what I’ve read of yours in the past. Again, a bad mistake. I am able to successfully pastor a mixed church because of my strong passion and beliefs that we’re all just humans living in different kinds of bodies trying to live life. When I saw the post that was fired at me in a taunting fashion, it hit my deepest nerve. I hope you receive my sincerest apologies and I truly hope you have grown beyond your frustration of us white folks as we are all works in progress.
"I apologize to your followers that have had to go through this as I know they love and respect you, as their anger demonstrates. Though I am never going to be silent on injustices, especially those of the race issue, I have surely learned to slow it down and cool the head before ever moving forward again. I hope you receive this apology as it is sent out of the sincerest of hearts.”
- More: Macomb County news