New York Post reporter Laura Italiano said she resigned from the newspaper after it was forced to correct a story about Vice President Kamala Harris’s children’s book being given to children at a border holding facility.
The NY Post originally alleged that migrant children were being gifted Harris’s book in a welcome kit. The claim was eventually fact-checked by The Washington Post, which cited a spokesman for the city of Long Beach who said one copy of Harris’s book “Superheroes Are Everywhere” was donated by someone in the community.
“Unaccompanied migrant kids brought from the U.S.-Mexico border to a new shelter in Long Beach, Calif., will be given a copy of her 2019 children’s book, ‘Superheroes are Everywhere,’ in their welcome kits,” the NY Post first claimed according to WaPo. (RELATED: Kamala Harris Says Demands For Her To Visit Border Are ‘Political Games’)
The NY Post was forced to edit its article and issue an editor’s note noting that “the original version of this article said migrant kids were getting Harris’ book in a welcome kit, but has been updated to note that only one known copy of the book was given to a child.”
This editor’s note came after the newspaper temporarily deleted its story, according to CNN.
Italiano, the reporter who wrote the original story, resigned amid the debacle, tweeting that this was her “breaking point.”
“The Kamala Harris story — an incorrect story I was ordered to write and which I failed to push back hard enough against — was my breaking point,” Italiano claimed in announcing her resignation. “It’s been a privilege to cover the City of New York for its liveliest, wittiest tabloid — a paper filled with reporters and editors I admire deeply and hold as friends. I’m sad to leave.”
The Kamala Harris story — an incorrect story I was ordered to write and which I failed to push back hard enough against — was my breaking point.
— Laura Italiano (@Italiano_Laura) April 27, 2021
The NY Post did not immediately respond to a request for comment from the Daily Caller regarding Italiano’s statement.
The current NY Post articles note that “a copy of her 2019 children’s book … was sitting on a cot” and cites a Reuters photograph. The NY Post describes this as an “open-arms gesture by the Biden administration,” although there’s no indication the book was sent by anyone within the administration.
“The City of Long Beach, in partnership with the Long Beach Convention and Visitors Bureau, has a citywide book and toy drive that is ongoing to support the migrant children who are temporarily staying in Long Beach at the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services shelter,” city spokesman Kevin Lee said regarding the claims according to WaPo. “The book you reference is one of hundreds of books that have already been donated. The book was not purchased by HHS or the City.”
