Ryan Lizza blasts Politico on his way out, looks to move on after ex-fiancé’s RFK Jr. tryst
Ex-Politico reporter Ryan Lizza blasted his former employer on Monday, suggesting the news organization is not meeting the mark during "the unprecedented moment of democratic peril" he believes America is facing under President Donald Trump.
Lizza became tabloid fodder last year when it was revealed his ex-fiancé, former New York Magazine writer Olivia Nuzzi, had been inappropriately involved with Robert F. Kennedy Jr., who she covered for the magazine. The pair called off their engagement. Lizza was initially placed on leave from Politico as Nuzzi accused him of blackmail and harassment, but she ultimately dismissed her claims and Lizza was welcomed back to Politico with a diminished role.
Lizza announced on Monday that he had left Politico and started a Substack called Telos.
"The main reason? Their style of political coverage is not meeting the unprecedented moment of democratic peril we are facing," Lizza wrote in Telos’ debut article.
"I know that sounds dramatic, but the gap between what is actually happening in Washington and how it was being framed and reported became much too wide," he continued. "This new publication, Telos, is my modest attempt to do things better."
Lizza suggested that at Politico "the wrong people are in charge" and accused his former employer of groveling to Trump.
"I saw up close how easy it was for a media conglomerate to grovel before the Trump administration when the wrong people are in charge," Lizza wrote.
"After Trump attacked Politico for selling subscriptions to the federal government, Politico made a regrettable mistake," he continued. "To smooth things over, they sent our White House reporter to be an onstage guest at CPAC, a sewer of media bashing and cheerleading for the degradation of our democracy where some activists were publicly organizing an unconstitutional third term for Trump—in other words, a coup."
REPORTER OLIVIA NUZZI'S SEXTING WITH RFK JR.
Lizza was referring to Politico White House Bureau Chief Dasha Burns, who interviewed special presidential envoy Richard Grenell at the 2025 edition of CPAC in February.
Burns did not immediately respond to a request for comment from Fox News Digital.
Lizza then declared that the Trump administration is "psychologically disorienting" to many in Washington.
"A friend of mine who served in Iraq once tried to explain to me how psychologically disorienting warfare can be for soldiers the first time they’re in full-scale combat. It’s so horrific, so unlike any human experience, that the initial instinct is to deny that what’s happening is actually happening. That’s the psychology that has seized many newsrooms, law firms, and other elite institutions in Washington for months. We need to wake up," he wrote.
NEW YORK MAG PUTS REPORTER OLIVIA NUZZI ON LEAVE FOR ALLEGED 'PERSONAL RELATIONSHIP' WITH RFK JR.
In a follow-up piece on Tuesday, Lizza said Politico ordered him to delete the initial article because it violated his non-disparagement clause. Lizza declined to delete the article and essentially doubled down on the criticism.
"I hope cooler heads prevail here, and I hope that my friends at Politico will think carefully about whether they really want to go around censoring journalists," he wrote.
Politico did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Nuzzi has maintained that she never had a physical relationship with Kennedy, her former reporting subject, but did engage in "personal" communications. She left New York Magazine after a probe found "no inaccuracies nor evidence of bias" in her coverage.
Kennedy’s representatives have long denied any sort of physical relationship and said he had only met Nuzzi once. Lizza vehemently denied Nuzzi’s harassment and blackmail claims before she dropped them.
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Fox News Digital’s Joseph A. Wulfsohn contributed to this report.