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Tom Cotton Says ‘Woke Children’ Now Run The New York Times

Screenshot Fox News Channel, Fox & Friends

Shelby Talcott Senior White House Correspondent
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Republican Arkansas Sen. Tom Cotton said that “woke children” now run the New York Times Monday following backlash over an op-ed he wrote that was published by the paper.

Cotton’s op-ed, published June 3, called for the U.S. military to possibly be deployed as backup in an effort to squash violent protests following George Floyd’s death. NYT employees openly protested the decision on social media, claiming the opinion piece put black coworkers in danger.

Former NYT editorial page editor James Bennet defended the decision to run the op-ed on Twitter June 3. The NYT later apologized, announcing that a rushed editorial process” resulted in publishing a piece “that did not meet our standards.” Bennet resigned, effectively immediately, from his position as editorial page editor Sunday.

Cotton spoke on “Fox & Friends” Monday about the situation, noting that the NYT asked him “to explain in further detail” previous comments he made regarding possibly deploying the U.S. military if the National Guard couldn’t help the violence on the ground. (RELATED: ‘It Far Exceeds Their Standards’: Tom Cotton Criticizes NYT For Apologizing ‘In The Face Of The Woke Mob Of Woke Kids’ Over His Op-Ed)

“And within a day it turned into something like a struggle session from the cultural revolution in Mao’s China, where the adults had to prostrate themselves and apologize in front of the woke children that apparently now run The New York Times newsroom,” Cotton said. “And now you’ve had the opinion page editor have to resign.”

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“But let’s be clear, this all goes back to the publisher and his unwillingness to stand up to a bunch of 20-year-olds and 30-year-olds who were raised on social justice seminars on our campuses,” Cotton added. “They need to behave like grown-ups, not like children, who are confronted with an opinion that they don’t like.”

The Republican senator continued on to tell viewers that no one should “expect to see both sides of the story in The New York Times.” He pointed out that the publication has announced it will reduce the number of op-eds they run following the debacle and called out Katie Kingsbury, who is now the acting editorial page editor through November.

“So I will say in advance to the world, you’re welcome for reducing the amount of left-wing nonsense that you have to read in The New York Times editorial pages,” Cotton said. “And just look at the woman they appointed on an acting basis to take over that page [Kingsbury]. She is a far left radical who will throw in with, not stand up to, the woke mob of children at The New York Times who get triggered any time they hear a conservative opinion.”