The New York Times defended editorial board member Mara Gay Tuesday after she referred to American flags on display in Long Island as “disturbing.”
“New York Times editorial board member Mara Gay’s comments on MSNBC have been irresponsibly taken out of context. Her argument was that Trump and many of his supporters have politicized the American flag. The attacks on her today are ill-informed and grounded in bad-faith,” the NYT’s public relations department tweeted. (RELATED: Mara Gay Says It’s ‘Disturbing’ To See American Flags In America, Blames White Trump Supporters)
New York Times editorial board member Mara Gay’s comments on MSNBC have been irresponsibly taken out of context. Her argument was that Trump and many of his supporters have politicized the American flag. The attacks on her today are ill-informed and grounded in bad-faith.
— NYTimes Communications (@NYTimesPR) June 8, 2021
Gay said during a Tuesday morning appearance on “Morning Joe” that she had recently visited Long Island and had seen a number of flags attacking President Joe Biden. She also saw American flags, and said she was concerned that former President Donald Trump’s supporters were unable to parse the difference between “Americanness” and “whiteness.”
WATCH:
“We have to figure out how to get every American a place at the table in this democracy … how to separate Americanness, America, from whiteness,” Gay said.
“I was really disturbed,” she added. “I saw … in some cases, just dozens of American flags, which is also just disturbing. Essentially, the message was clear, this is my country. This is not your country. I own this.”
Critics quickly fired back against the editorial board’s defense of Gay.
Mara Gay says unapologetically racist things virtually every time she’s on TV. Perhaps the only thing more offensive than her commentary are the NYT editors making excuses for her stupidity even as she humiliates their publication.
— Tom Elliott (@tomselliott) June 8, 2021
LOL. NYT Basically: Don’t listen to the actual words that came out of our writers mouth… she meant something entirely different than what anyone with a brain heard verbatim.
Also I look forward to your coverage of #RacistHunter if it was me I know you’d be all over it so… https://t.co/0LpNuk0TzJ
— Donald Trump Jr. (@DonaldJTrumpJr) June 8, 2021
lol
This bold-faced lie from NYT + the near universal blackout from MSM reporters about Hunter Biden using the n-word repeatedly, are both emblematic of how the leftwing media will always circle the wagons to protect their own and those they agree with politically. https://t.co/qElUrF0v5t
— Andrew Surabian (@Surabees) June 8, 2021
Dear God….the @nytimes justifies mocking the American flag because Donald Trump likes the American flag.
It’s propaganda for the ruling party. We see it. https://t.co/r3HnRNHCyD
— Richard Grenell (@RichardGrenell) June 8, 2021