The New York Times, including its publisher A.G. Sulzberger, is playing “the victim card” in response to exposure of its “pattern of antisemitism,” said Breitbart News Editor-in-Chief Alex Marlow in a Sunday interview on SiriusXM’s Breitbart News Sunday with host Matt Boyle.
Boyle, discussing Breitbart News’s investigation of New York Times political editor Tom Wright-Piersanti’s “years-long history of antisemitic and racist comments on his Twitter page,” asked Marlow his reaction to the Gray Lady’s admission that Wright-Piersanti published “racist and antisemitic” tweets.
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Marlow described “a pattern of antisemitism at the New York Times,” recalling how “just this year, [the New York Times] had to stop publishing political cartoons because they did not trust their own editors to be able to decipher between which cartoons are antisemitic and which aren’t.”
“This statement basically plays the victim card,” said Marlow of Sulzberger’s allegation that the New York Times is “the target of a vast right-wing conspiracy.”
Marlow added, “They’re the victims of you and me and Arthur Schwartz and Donald Trump and anyone who, God forbid, wants to hold the New York Times accountable for their smears.”
Despite posturing as an advocate for First Amendment protections of free speech, expression, and a free press, the New York Times has advocated for the destruction of dissident news media outlets such as Breitbart News.
“Remember, the New York Times is the paper that literally published a how-to guide on how to destroy Breitbart News,” recalled Marlow. “And now, this guy is whining that people would dare to look into his precious staff? It’s laughable, it’s pathetic, and it shows how vulnerable the Times is.”
The New York Times is a beneficiary of uniquely low standards of conduct relative to other organizations — both news media and otherwise — assessed Marlow.
“There is not a good explanation of how an editor could put up antisemitic tweets and still be allowed to work at the New York Times to this day,” Marlow stated. “He’s still there, and we know in any other profession that’s in public life, at all, [he would be fired]. It’s not just journalists. I can’t think of another profession where you’d be allowed to tweet antisemitic things, anti-Indian things, and still keep a job at this moment.”
Marlow went on, saying, “I’m not calling for anyone to be fired, but I’m just saying, can you imagine if this happened at Breitbart News? Can you imagine if this happened with some sort of a politician? There would instantly be a call for heads on pikes, and the New York Times trying to explain this away is an impossible task.”
Marlow added, “The entirety of the establishment media, which does take their cues from the New York Times, have been calling Breitbart and the president racist without any evidence… and branding us as antisemites.”
Dean Baquet, chief editor of the New York Times, promised his outlet would shift its focus to “race” in its political coverage leading up to the 2020 presidential election. He praised his organization’s conduct in pushing narratives related to allegations of “Russian election hacking” and “collusion” between President Donald Trump and the Kremlin.
The New York Times cannot credibly “focus on race, racism, and how the president is racist” or “cover the news through the lens of racial politics” given its employees and conduct, determined Marlow.
“How could they credibly do that when they have Sarah Jeong, who is an open racist, who hates white people, on staff, and thinks white people are inferior, and folks like this guy Tom Wright-Piersanti?” asked Marlow.
Marlow remarked, “This is clearly cultural at the New York Times, and they want to be credible on issues of race when they have more open racism in their own newsroom than any mainstream newsroom, period… It’s smart of them to not try to scapegoat one individual, because it’s clearly site-wide.”
“‘This represents an escalation of an ongoing campaign against the free press,'” said Marlow, quoting the New York Times‘ description of revelations of its own conduct as an undermining of the First Amendment. “This is from the New York Times who published a headline, ‘How to Destroy the Business Model of Breitbart and Fake News.’ That is a direct headline from the New York Times… and they’re the ones whining about a free press? Give me a break.”
Marlow said, “If you hit the target, they immediately claim it’s some sort of conspiracy, but they can publish outright headlines trying to destroy our business, and that’s perfectly fine and perfectly legit journalism. No one buys into this, unless you’re an extreme lefty who thinks of the New York Times as your pagan God… We know that the New York Times isn’t concerned about whether or not people have done antisemitic things or hold antisemitic viewpoints when they hire them. It’s a clear pattern. There’s no cleaning it up. It’s going to continue.”
Marlow concluded, “If their spin is going to be that this is a vast right-wing conspiracy, and it’s really Breitbart’s fault, good luck with that. It’s not going to sell, and it might backfire and make things even worse.”
The New York Times markets itself as a politically objective and non-partisan news media outlet. After the 2016 presidential election, it temporarily adopted the slogan, “Truth. It’s more important now than ever.”
Breitbart News Daily broadcasts live on SiriusXM Patriot 125 weekdays from 6:00 a.m. to 9:00 a.m. Eastern.
Follow Robert Kraychik on Twitter.
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