Republican Arkansas Senator Tom Cotton placed advertisements in the New York Times a week after the publication of his op-ed caused chaos at the paper.
The Senator’s Political Action Committee put advertisements on the newspaper’s website attacking presumptive Democratic Presidential Nominee Joe Biden, according to the Washington Free Beacon. A banner advertisement read “Joe Biden fails the test.”
A top adviser to the Senator told the Free Beacon that “while we were concerned that the woke mob would stifle debate, it’s admirable that the New York Times will run these ads from Senator Cotton’s PAC.”
Cotton and his team are “grateful to the New York Times for sharing Senator Cotton’s message that Joe Biden is too confused to be president,” he added. (RELATED: McConnell Criticizes New York Times Over Handling Of Tom Cotton Op-Ed)
New York Times employees publicly shamed the newspaper after they published Cotton’s article, titled “Tom Cotton: Send In The Troops,” on June 3. Several tweeted a screenshot of the headline with the phrase, “running this puts Black @nytimes staff in danger.”
Running this puts Black @nytimes staff in danger, and the lives of many others, too. I value the expression of opposing ideas, but giving space to something like this seems like misplaced fealty to the ideal of expressing all opinions. pic.twitter.com/earDzukONx
— Azam Ahmed (@azamsahmed) June 4, 2020
Running this put Black @nytimes staffers in danger. In solidarity with my colleagues who agree. pic.twitter.com/UfkZkE1xvj
— Jenna Wortham (@jennydeluxe) June 3, 2020
my colleagues said it more eloquently: Running this puts Black @NYTimes staff in danger. I stand by my colleagues in solidarity. pic.twitter.com/6l7kjZwFKe
— Charlie Warzel (@cwarzel) June 4, 2020
The Times ran an article about the backlash, saying that a letter protesting the publication of Cotton’s op-ed had been signed by over 800 employees. They wrote that their employees objected to the article’s publication “despite a company policy that instructs them not to post partisan comments or take sides on issues.”
The New York Times editorial page editor James Bennett tweeted a defense of the article’s publication last week. Bennett later resigned after the New York Times issued an apology saying the piece “did not meet our standards.”
The Arkansas senator repeatedly mocked the New York Times for their handling of the situation.
During a Fox News interview, Cotton said “my op-ed doesn’t meet the New York Times standards. It far exceeds their standards which are normally full of left-wing sophomoric drivel.”
“I find it amazing that in the last 24 hours, the editor of the New York Times and the publisher of the New York Times have both defended their decision to publish this op-ed, but in the face of the woke mob of woke kids that are in their newsroom, they tucked tail and they ran,” he added.
“I haven’t seen this much turmoil at @nytimes since they published a defense of pedophilia. The staff were very upset, multiple resignations, editors’ notes, etc,” he said in a tweet Sunday. “Just kidding, apparently not a single member of the @nytimes woke mob cared.”
I haven’t seen this much turmoil at @nytimes since they published a defense of pedophilia. The staff were very upset, multiple resignations, editors’ notes, etc.
Just kidding, apparently not a single member of the @nytimes woke mob cared.https://t.co/nh2UER2VIz
— Tom Cotton (@TomCottonAR) June 7, 2020
“How is everyone at the @nytimes doing this morning?” Cotton tweeted Friday. “Did you have a late night trying to come up with an excuse to pretend you didn’t cave to the woke mob?”