Democrats, including Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, ripped the New York Times for its front-page headline about President Trump’s announcement that he might deploy the US military to quell riots across the country over George Floyd’s death in Minneapolis. In response to the pressure, the New York Times changed the headline.
The president threatened to invoke an 1807 law to use the country’s armed forces unless the nation’s governors take forceful steps to control the rallies that have sometimes turned violent and descended into looting, arson and attacks on the police.
Moments after his remarks, protesters were cleared from St. John’s Episcopal Church and the president and top administration officials walked through Lafayette Park to the historic place of worship.
The uproar began when Tom Jolly, the Times print editor, tweeted out a preview of the newspaper’s headline that ran across all six columns.
“As Chaos Spreads, Trump Vows to ‘End It Now,'” the headline said.
“You’ve got to be kidding me,” Ocasio-Cortez responded on Twitter.
“The New York Times headline writers are going to Both Sides the country to death,” Sen. Brian Schatz (D-Hawaii) posted.
Julian Castro, the former Housing and Urban Development secretary and one-time 2020 Democratic presidential candidate, contrasted the print and online edition headlines.
“The President is acting like a budding dictator. Headline fail, @nytimes,” Castro tweeted.
He praised the online version, which said “Police Clear Protesters With Tear Gas So Trump Can Pose by Church.”
“See, your online team gets it,” he said.
Ben Rhodes, an adviser to former President Barack Obama, questioned the Times’ reality.
“If the New York Times thinks this accurately describes what happened today, I have no idea what country they’ve been living in — they should just let Trump write their headlines,” he said.
The headline was changed for the late edition to: “Trump Threatens to Send Troops into States.”
The newspaper took similar heat last summer and changed a headline about Trump’s comments following shootings in Dayton, Ohio, and El Paso, Texas.
A first-edition headline, “Trump Urges Unity vs. Racism,” was changed to “Assailing Hate But Not Guns” after an outcry.