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Laura Helmuth has stepped down from her position as editor-in-chief at *Scientific American* following intense criticism over her inflammatory social media posts targeting Trump supporters during election night.

Helmuth announced her departure on Bluesky, stating, “I’ve decided to leave *Scientific American* after an exciting 4.5 years as editor in chief. I’m going to take some time to think about what comes next (and go birdwatching).”

The magazine’s president, Kimberly Lau, confirmed that Helmuth’s decision to leave was voluntary. In a statement to *The Washington Post*, Lau acknowledged Helmuth’s contributions, highlighting the magazine’s achievements in science communications and digital transformation under her leadership.

The controversy erupted when Helmuth posted several inflammatory messages on Bluesky during election night, expressing strong opinions about Trump voters and her home state of Indiana. On November 5, she wrote, “Solidarity to everybody whose meanest, dumbest, most bigoted high-school classmates are celebrating early results because f–k them to the moon and back.”

She continued her posts, stating, “I apologize to younger voters that my Gen X is full of f–king fascists.” Another post read, “Every four years I remember why I left Indiana (where I grew up) and remember why I respect the people who stayed and are trying to make it less racist and sexist. The moral arc of the universe isn’t going to bend itself.”

After facing widespread criticism, Helmuth removed the posts and later shared an article about election grief, which featured insights from University of Minnesota’s Pauline Boss, who described election grief as “a grief that remains unresolved. It’s not like a grief of a person for whom you have a death certificate and a funeral after and rituals of support and comfort. We’re stuck with this. I wrote about it as frozen grief.”

On November 7, Helmuth issued an apology, acknowledging her comments were “offensive and inappropriate” and asserting her respect for diverse political views.

The controversy gained additional attention when Elon Musk responded to a social media post questioning Helmuth’s objectivity, suggesting she was more of a political activist than a scientific leader.

Helmuth, who holds a Ph.D. in cognitive neuroscience from UC Berkeley, had previously worked at several prestigious publications before joining *Scientific American* in 2020. During her tenure, the magazine made its second presidential endorsement in its 179-year history, supporting Harris over Trump.

The magazine has begun searching for a new editor-in-chief to succeed Helmuth.