The New York Times defended reporter Maggie Haberman Friday evening after President Donald Trump tweeted that she was a “third rate reporter.”
Haberman tweeted a partial quote from Trump Friday that indicated the president said he wanted governors criticizing his administration’s response to the novel coronavirus “to be appreciative.” Greg Price, a social media associate for the Daily Caller, responded with Trump’s full quote, which Haberman had cut short.
“Maggie Haberman is a trusted journalist whose reporting has stood the test of time,” the NYT said in response to Trump’s tweet calling Haberman “third rate.”
Maggie Haberman is a trusted journalist whose reporting has stood the test of time.
As President Trump’s campaign said today, Maggie is “one of the most powerful and respected political reporters in the country.” https://t.co/iiuDEMs31T
— NYTimes Communications (@NYTimesPR) March 28, 2020
The NYT also added that Trump’s campaign called Haberman “one of the most powerful and respected political reporters in the country” a few days earlier.
“‘I want them to be appreciative,’ the president says of governors who are criticizing the federal response,” Trump said according to Haberman’s tweet Friday evening. Haberman’s tweet left out context regarding Trump’s statement. (RELATED: Maggie Haberman, Ana Navarro And Shaun King Among A Massive List Of Activist Journalists Named On Covington’s Lawsuit)
“I want them to be appreciative. We’ve done a great job. And I’m not talking about me. I’m talking about Mike Pence, the task force, I’m talking about FEMA, the Army Corps of Engineers,” Trump’s full quote reads.
Haberman also responded to Trump’s comments about her in a tweet Saturday morning. She said that Trump knew his quote from Friday “was a political error” and accused him of trying “to get reporters not to use it.”
The president knows his quote yesterday about wanting states to be appreciative of the feds, with implication that’s how you get help, was a political error that is likely to show up in ads attacking him in MI and elsewhere. Some of this is to try to get reporters not to use it https://t.co/9oUN2rUg2C
— Maggie Haberman (@maggieNYT) March 28, 2020