New York Times Says Controversial Op-Ed By Sen. Cotton ‘Did Not Meet’ Its Editorial Standards

TOPLINE

After an uproar from journalists at the New York Times over the opinion section’s publication of a piece by Sen. Tom Cotton (R-Ark.) advocating sending in the military to quell violence amid protests over the death of George Floyd, the newspaper stated Thursday that the op-ed “did not meet” its editorial standards.

KEY FACTS

In the op-ed, entitled “Send In The Troops,” Cotton called for the military to put an end to looting and rioting at protests over Floyd’s death with an “overwhelming show of force to detain and ultimately deter lawbreakers.”

The op-ed was swiftly condemned by much of the political left and journalistic community, including many New York Times staffers who tweeted that the op-ed “puts black staff in danger.”

The paper initially defended the op-ed, with editorial page editor James Bennet arguing that it would “undermine the integrity and independence” of the paper if they “only published views that editors like me agreed with.”

But on Thursday, the Times’ PR team released a statement saying that the op-ed “did not meet our standards.”

“We’ve examined the piece and the process leading up to its publication,” a spokeswoman said. “This review made clear that a rushed editorial process led to the publication of an Op-Ed that did not meet our standards.”

In response, the statement said, the Times will make “short and long term changes,” including expanding its fact-checking operation and reducing the number of op-eds they publish.

Key Background

Protests have erupted across the country in the past week over the death of George Floyd, a 46-year-old Minneapolis resident whose neck was knelt on by police officer Derek Chauvin for nearly 9 minutes despite Floyd telling police, “I can’t breathe.” Some of these protests have devolved into looting and rioting, and many Republicans, President Trump among them, have called for a strong military response. Defense Secretary Mike Esper argued “the sooner that you mass and dominate the battlespace, the quicker this dissipates and we can get back to the right normal.”

Big Number

58%. To bolster his argument, Cotton cited a Morning Consult poll that found 58% of registered voters favor “calling in the U.S. military to supplement city police forces” in response to the demonstrations.

Chief Critic

Cotton took to Fox News to hit back at the statement, saying his op-ed “far exceeds” the Times’ standards, which he said are “normally full of left-wing sophomoric drivel.” He said the decision to put out the statement was the result of a “woke mob of woke kids that are in their newsroom.” Cotton said of the Times’ decision to run fewer op-eds, “you’re welcome for getting the New York Times to run less of the garbage you normally see in their pages.”

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