President Donald Trump blamed “Radical Left Democrats” this Wednesday for a New York Times (NYT) headline switch Tuesday that changed “Trump Urges Unity Vs. Racism” into “Assailing Hate But Not Guns.”
Trumped tweeted, “Trump Urges Unity Vs. Racism,” was the correct description in the first headline by the Failing New York Times, but it was quickly changed to, “Assailing Hate But Not Guns,” after the Radical Left Democrats went absolutely CRAZY! Fake News – That’s what we’re up against…”
US President Donald Trump speaks about the mass shootings from the Diplomatic Reception Room of the White House in Washington, DC, Aug. 5, 2019. (SAUL LOEB/AFP/Getty Images)
“Trump Urges Unity Vs. Racism,” was the correct description in the first headline by the Failing New York Times, but it was quickly changed to, “Assailing Hate But Not Guns,” after the Radical Left Democrats went absolutely CRAZY! Fake News – That’s what we’re up against…
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) August 7, 2019
Liberal reaction to the headline was swift, which led to the Times amending the headline for the second edition. (RELATED: Federal Prosecutors Are Treating El Paso Shooting As Domestic Terrorism, Possible Hate Crime)
FWIW (certainly better to do this than not IMO) they changed their headline between the 1st and 2nd print edition. pic.twitter.com/DOSAMFbvq0
— Nate Silver (@NateSilver538) August 6, 2019
Trump continued with his tweet by quoting former Clinton advisor Mark Penn, who Trump says called the NYT headline switch, “an astounding development in journalism. I’ve never seen it happen before, I’ve just never seen anything like this! Is that journalism today? I don’t think so!”
..”This is an astounding development in journalism. I’ve never seen it happen before, I’ve just never seen anything like this! Is that journalism today? I don’t think so!” Mark Penn, Former Clinton Advisor. @TuckerCarlson After 3 years I almost got a good headline from the Times!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) August 7, 2019
The headline changing episode caught the eye of many journalists, including former CBS news anchor Dan Rather, who, after leaving his profession under a cloud, has become a consistent critic of the Trump presidency.
Dan Rather arrives on the red carpet for the film “Truth” during the 40th Toronto International Film Festival in Toronto, Canada, Sept. 12, 2015. REUTERS/Mark Blinch
Rather suggested Monday it was bad form to directly quote Trump in headlines. “To my fellow members of the press, I suggest we refrain from quoting the president’s words from prepared speeches into headlines … ”
To my fellow members of the press, I suggest we refrain from quoting the presiden’ts words from prepared speeches into headlines and tweets without context. He sometimes says the right thing. The real questions are what he does and what he really believes.
— Dan Rather (@DanRather) August 5, 2019
Later, Rather continued to encourage journalists with his tweeting, as he instructed them to “not distort or hide” the truth.