The New York Times Prints the Fake Facts that Fit its False Narratives: A Case Study

On February 2, 2017, the New York Times published on its front page above-the-fold a hit-piece under the headline, “A Sinister Perception of Islam Now Steers the White House.” The principal targets of this unflattering article were President Trump, his National Security Advisor Michael Flynn and his “chief strategist,” Stephen Bannon. But at the article’s end were five paragraphs and a picture with a caption that amounted to the journalistic equivalent of a drive-by-shooting aimed at Center for Security Policy President Frank Gaffney.

Specifically, Times reporter Matthew Rosenberg distorted and falsely reported comments made by Frank Gaffney in the course of two recorded interviews conducted in December 2016. His article and an accompanying photo’s caption respectively asserted that Mr. Gaffney regarded “Islam” and “Muslims” as “termites [that] hollow out the structure of the civil society and other institutions for the purpose of creating conditions under which the jihad will succeed.”

Frank Gaffney comprehensively addresses the New York Times smear on Secure Freedom Radio

Actually, as transcripts of the two conversations spanning roughly 2.5 hours make clear, Mr. Gaffney was characterizing the modus operandi of the Muslim Brotherhood, not “Muslims” or “Islam.” The misrepresentation serves the interest of the Brotherhood – which has long been determined to silence him and the Center for Security Policy – but not the interests of the New York Times’ readers or the paper’s responsibility to report the facts.

As a public service and in the interest of holding the so-called “nation’s newspaper of record” accountable, the Center today released the full transcripts of the two interview conversations between Messrs. Gaffney and Rosenberg, together with the transcript of a phone call and an exchange of emails between the two after the publication of the article on February 2^nd. Together, they constitute a case study of mainstream media malfeasance that, deliberately or not, has the practical effect of helping America’s foes.

Mr. Gaffney observed on the publication of this collection of transcripts, entitled The New York Times Prints the Fake Facts that Fit its False Narratives: A Case Study:

I couldn’t have been more clear with Matt Rosenberg: The pursuit by Sharia-supremacists of our submission – especially by stealthy means – that poses a mortal threat to our Republic, not Muslims who no more want to be part of that brutally repressive program than do the rest of us. His distortions enable the former, and hurt the latter.

I have asked for the New York Times to retract their fake narrative that deliberately misstated my views, but it has yet to happen. It’s stunts like this that have discredited the Times and alienated many of its readers – and that enable our enemies, like the Muslim Brotherhood.

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