The New York Daily News has stealth-edited a column originally telling Hispanic conservative commentator Kimberly Guilfoyle that “she’d be better off picking grapes” than dating Donald Trump Jr.
That line has now been changed to “she’d probably have better odds picking lotto numbers,” without any note from an editor. An Internet Archive page shows the change as well.
Linda Stasi, the author behind the piece titled “Fox should fire reporter Kimberly Guilfoyle, who can’t possible stay neutral while dating a Trump kid,” also mistakenly refers to Guilfoyle as a reporter rather than an opinion journalist.
Guilfoyle currently co-hosts “The Five” on Fox News and has a mother who is Puerto Rican. Telling Hispanics that they’d be better off as agricultural workers is typically seen as bigoted.
Stasi tweeted out Wednesday afternoon that she had “absolutely no idea that Kimberly Guilfoyle is half Puerto Rican.”
“My column was in no way meant as a slur. Nonetheless I will change that reference online. I’m just surprised anyone would have assumed such a stereotype b/c someone is half-Latina. So sorry for misunderstanding,” she added.
Stasi said she was “flummoxed” by the idea that the line could be construed as racist, but nonetheless found it appropriate to correct, in an emailed statement to The Daily Caller News Foundation.
“Donald Trump Jr. tweeted that one line in the column was somehow a reference to Ms. Guilfoyle being Puerto Rican (I since checked it out and she is indeed Puerto Rican on her father’s side). Not that I had any idea of her ethnicity nor if I did would I associate grape picking with her or it with Puerto Rico. My Italian family- who picks their own grapes in Calabria- sure. The ravaged island of Puerto Rico – no. I think Mr. Trump mistakenly assumed I wrote it to stereotype her somehow. Truthfully I was kind of flummoxed by the association. But why leave a phrase in if it could be in any way misconstrued like that?” she said.
A number of outlets have reported that both Trump Jr. and Guilfoyle are currently in a romantic relationship. (RELATED: NYDN Columnist Says That Hispanic Kimberly Guilfoyle Should Go ‘Pick Grapes.’ Don Jr. Responds)
Trump Jr. took to Twitter Wednesday slamming the article as hypocritical and full of “sexism & racist rhetoric.”
How did this get past her editors at the @NYDailyNews? Or do they condone this kind of talk? I guess hypocrisy, sexism & racist rhetoric are alive & well there.
Daily News Writer Tells Puerto Rican Kimberly Guilfoyle to ‘Pick Grapes’ https://t.co/pDlKr4lfXt via @BreitbartNews
— Donald Trump Jr. (@DonaldJTrumpJr) June 13, 2018
The New York Daily News would not comment on the change.
All content created by the Daily Caller News Foundation, an independent and nonpartisan newswire service, is available without charge to any legitimate news publisher that can provide a large audience. All republished articles must include our logo, our reporter’s byline and their DCNF affiliation. For any questions about our guidelines or partnering with us, please contact licensing@dailycallernewsfoundation.org.
