Mara Gay, a member of the New York Times editorial board, promoted a deceptively edited quote by President Trump to state governors regarding the coronavirus pandemic.
In a meeting with those governors Monday, the President advised the states to seek whatever medical equipment they could find from multiple sources beyond what the federal government can provide.
Gay used one quote from the meeting and truncated it to make it sound as if Trump were telling the governors they were all on their own. In reality, he was offering sound advice.
Fake Quote
Gay used a shortened portion of the conversation to intentionally smear the President.
“Trump told governors this morning they are on their own: ‘Respirators, ventilators, all of the equipment — try getting it yourselves,'” she wrote.
The quote left out valuable context. Additionally, Gay’s assertion that he told the governors “they are on their own” is patently false.
Trump told governors this morning they are on their own:
“Respirators, ventilators, all of the equipment — try getting it yourselves,” Mr. Trump told the governors during the conference call, a recording of which was shared with The New York Times. https://t.co/K0sont7MBc— Mara Gay (@MaraGay) March 16, 2020
RELATED: MSNBC’s Brian Williams and NYT’s Mara Gay Make Bloomberg Math Gaffe
What He Really Said
Gay’s deceptively edited quote makes President Trump sound like he’s telling governor’s to fend for themselves. It also creates a tone as if to suggest he was daring them to try and find these supplies, playing a game when the American people are sick and worried about coronavirus.
The reality of what he said is completely different.
Here is what the New York Times article itself had to say:
President Trump told a group of governors on Monday morning that they should not wait for the federal government to fill the growing demand for respirators needed to treat people with coronavirus.
“Respirators, ventilators, all of the equipment — try getting it yourselves,” Mr. Trump told the governors during the conference call, a recording of which was shared with The New York Times. “We will be backing you, but try getting it yourselves. Point of sales, much better, much more direct if you can get it yourself.”
That is a boatload of context being left out by Gay.
Any reporter using half of a quote and refusing to use appropriate context is doing so maliciously.
Here’s the rest of @realDonaldTrump‘s quote : “We will be backing you, but try getting it yourselves. Point of sales, much better, much more direct if you can get it yourself.” https://t.co/qdeWKTVaxE
— Erin Perrine (@ErinMPerrine) March 16, 2020
RELATED: WATCH: Don Lemon Has a Meltdown When Kasich Defends Trump’s Coronavirus Address
Fake News is the Virus
The out of context, deceptively edited quote was shared by numerous New York Times writers, as well as your typical anti-Trump media personalities such as CNN’s Oliver Darcy and those at the Huffington Post.
It’s one thing to be a bad reporter – it’s another to be a liar. Shame on you, @MaraGay https://t.co/8m3Q2PUGL9
— toddstarnes (@toddstarnes) March 16, 2020
Gay, you may recall, was widely mocked recently when she made an epic math error while trying to critique the presidential campaign of former New York City mayor Michael Bloomberg.
how did this end up on tv? pic.twitter.com/xUYIOChhKv
— andrew kaczynski? (@KFILE) March 6, 2020
Rather than admit she was just really bad at math, she accused critics of her embarrassing flub of being a “racist Twitter mob.”
Imagine what she’s going to say when people start calling out the fact that she’s also a purveyor of fake news.