Some professional journalists.

And there were some valid criticisms.

This is a very common stance now - because one person said one thing, or a person said something once, or did something once then all people associated with that person (in the mind of the commentator) are a "thing".

The reasoning is "a rightwing person once said a racist thing, therefore anyone who is rightwing is definitely racist" it is clearly nonsense, and is extremely corrosive to debate.