Professor tweets 'trying not to vomit' after passenger gives up seat to soldier

A Drexel University associate professor is under fire after tweeting that he was “trying not to vomit” while witnessing a first class passenger give up his seat to an armed service member on a flight. 

George Ciccariello-Maher, an associate professor of politics and global studies at the Pennsylvania university, posted a tweet on his private Twitter account Sunday.

“Some guy gave up his first class seat for a uniformed soldier,” Ciccariello-Maher said in the tweet. “People are thanking him. I’m trying not to vomit or yell about Mosul.”

On social media, many shared a screenshot of the private tweet, while expressing their outrage over Ciccariello-Maher's "unpatriotic" comments.

Ciccariello-Maher tried to clarify his comments on his Facebook account Thursday. He said he was responding to what he "considered a smug and self-congratulatory gesture by a first-class passenger toward a uniformed soldier."

"Maybe predictably, my tweet has since been fed into and misrepresented by the outrage machine that is right-wing media," Ciccariello-Maher said. "Needless to say, my personal views expressed off-campus have absolutely nothing to do with those of my employer, Drexel University."

He said he felt compelled to say something about Mosul, because the incident took place two days after reports that 200 civilians were killed in a coalition airstrike in Mosul, where U.S.-backed Iraqi forces are clearing the city of Islamic State militants.

"I respect anyone who makes difficult and dangerous decisions out of economic necessity —whether they are public school teachers, construction workers, economic migrants, or young soldiers," he said. "What I don't respect is a brutal invasion and occupation of Iraq that has not made our world any safer -- a war that has taken advantage of economically disadvantaged Americans, a war that has given the world ISIS, and a war that has wrought carnage like that seen in Mosul and elsewhere."

This isn't Ciccariello-Maher's first brush with controversy on Twitter. The associate professor came under fire in December after he tweeted  “All I Want for Christmas is White Genocide.”
At the time, some stood behind Ciccariello-Maher, supporting his right for free speech in a petition of more than 9,000 signatures and understanding his intent to make a point with his tweet.

USA TODAY has reached out to Drexel University for comment.

Follow Mary Bowerman on Twitter: @MaryBowerman