Media

NYT Editorial Board Member Nailed Again By Critics After Blaming Bloomberg Math Mistake Backlash On ‘Racist Twitter Mob’

Brian Williams speaks with Mara Gay. Screen Shot/MSNBC

Screen Shot/MSNBC

Scott Morefield Reporter
Font Size:

New York Times editorial board member Mara Gay drew a whole other round of criticism after claiming that a “racist Twitter mob” criticized her over an on-air math mistake.

Appearing on MSNBC’s “11th Hour” last week, Gay and host Brian Williams engaged in a back-and-forth about how former New York City Mayor Mike Bloomberg conceivably could have given every American $1 million with the $500 million he spent on his failed presidential campaign.

Both Gay and Williams were predictably raked over the coals. Responding to the backlash, Gay wrote a New York Times op-ed Wednesday, then tweeted it out with the claim that a “racist Twitter mob” came at her for “a trivial math mistake.”

“My People Have Been Through Worse Than a Twitter Mob,” the headline read above the subheader: “When you’re a black woman in America with a public voice, a trivial math error can lead to a deluge of hate.”

“Unfortunately, quite a few Americans can tell you what it’s like to be the target of a Twitter mob over a gaffe,” Gay wrote. “My great sin was trivial, harmless, silly. What’s it like when people are trying to cancel you for a math mistake? Weird, and maddening and painful.”

“Of course, in my case it wasn’t really about math, as anyone who read through my mentions on Twitter or saw my inbox would know,” she wrote before listing several examples of racist responses. (RELATED: ‘She Learned Young That Crying Racism Pays’ — Tucker Blasts Omar’s Racism Charge And Her Attempts To Silence Him)

Numerous Twitter users were quick to say their mockery had absolutely nothing to do with race, particularly because Brian Williams, a white male, received his share as well.