Albert Gea/Reuters
BuzzFeed has decided to pull out of a $1.3 million deal with the Republican National Committee to run political advertisements for the party in the run-up to the 2016 election, the company announced Monday. Chief Executive Jonah Peretti told employees of the decision in an email, citing presumptive nominee Donald Trump’s controversial rhetoric. “The Trump campaign is directly opposed to the freedoms of our employees in the United States and around the world and in some cases, such as his proposed ban on international travel for Muslims, would make it impossible for our employees to do their jobs,” Peretti said. “We certainly don’t like to turn away revenue that funds all the important work we do across the company. However, in some cases we must make business exceptions: We don’t run cigarette ads because they are hazardous to our health, and we won’t accept Trump ads for the exact same reason.”