US ambassador to Germany calls out journalists who blocked him on Twitter

U.A. Ambassador to Germany Richard Grenell is calling out several journalists he says have blocked him on Twitter. 

Grenell tweeted screenshots on Sunday that he had been blocked by NBC News journalists Chuck Todd and Kristen Welker, as well as Mark Landler of The New York Times. 

Chuck & Kristen love to “debate” the issues. @chucktodd @kwelkernbc https://t.co/XVHAsitmah pic.twitter.com/G2DCYUkPNK

— Richard Grenell (@RichardGrenell) August 11, 2019

Mark Landler covers foreign policy for @nytimes. But he’s interested in covering the issues…he says. https://t.co/Dt7UZGLSsJ pic.twitter.com/R6Ilgfko6K

— Richard Grenell (@RichardGrenell) August 11, 2019

{mosads}A source familiar with knowledge of the accounts told The Hill that the NBC journalists blocked Grenell years ago. Spokespeople for the Times and NBC were not immediately available for comment. 

Grenell’s Twitter has drawn controversy in years past. 

He deleted hundreds of tweets in 2012 when he served as Mitt Romney’s presidential campaign’s foreign policy and national security spokesman. 

Screenshots shared by Business Insider at the time show one was aimed at another MSNBC host. “Rachel Maddow needs to take a breath and put on a necklace,” it read.

He also criticized Todd, calling the “Meet the Press” host “a commercial for the Democratic Party & its radical feminist agenda,” HuffPost reported at the time.

Grenell’s wide-ranging Twitter attacks weren’t limited to the media. “Did you notice that while Michelle Obama is working out on the BiggestLoser she is sweating on the East Room’s carpet? Just saying,” he once tweeted.

They also weren’t limited by party. He lashed out at former Speaker Newt Gingrich, attacking the Georgia Republican’s personal life, Politico reported. 

He apologized at the time in a statement to Politico saying his “tongue-in-cheek” tweets were meant to be humorous, not hurtful. 

Trump appointed Grenell as ambassador to Germany in 2017. He had previously served as a spokesman at the United Nations.