Laura Helmuth, an editor-in-chief who faced humiliation for hurling expletive-laced insults at Donald Trump’s supporters on election day, has resigned from her role at Scientific American, a U.S.-based publication focused on science and technology.

Ms Helmuth announced her resignation on Thursday, more than a week after telling Mr Trump’s supporters, “fuck them to the moon and back” on social media.

“I’ve decided to leave Scientific American after an exciting 4.5 years as editor-in-chief,” Ms Helmuth wrote on Blue Sky Thursday. 

As early results showed Mr Trump led the polls last week Wednesday, Ms Helmuth cursed out the people who cast their ballots for the former president and celebrated his early lead.

“Solidarity to everybody whose meanest, dumbest, most bigoted high-school classmates are celebrating early results because f— them to the moon and back,” the editor posted on her Blue Sky account.

She described pro-Trump Americans as “fucking fascists.” On November 6, she shared an article on her account: “Election Grief Is Real. Here’s How to Cope”, to help people grieving the election loss of Democratic candidate Kamala Harris.

The tirade and post attracted a deluge of criticisms as many called for her resignation, saying she could not be trusted to be objective in her articles if she could so brazenly bash citizens who favoured Mr Trump.

The backlash intensified, and Ms Helmuth issued an apology, stating that her rant did not reflect the stance of her news organisation, Scientific American.

“I made a series of offensive and inappropriate posts on my personal Bluesky account on election night, and I am sorry,” she wrote in a statement on Friday. “I respect and value people across the political spectrum. These posts, which I have deleted, do not reflect my beliefs; they were a mistaken expression of shock and confusion about the election results.”

Scientific American, a 179-year-old newspaper,  had stood staunchly behind Joe Biden’s candidacy in the 2020 polls and did the same in September, publishing an article to endorse veep Harris’ bid.

The publication asked Americans to “vote for Kamala Harris to support science, health and the environment,” describing Mr Trump as a threat who held a “dangerous record.”

Their endorsement held no sway over voters who cast their ballots for Mr Trump to return him to the White House as the nation’s 47th president.