This morning Trump tweeted out that the New York Times had reported FAKE NEWS about his China call:
The failing @nytimes does major FAKE NEWS China story saying "Mr.Xi has not spoken to Mr. Trump since Nov.14." We spoke at length yesterday!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) February 10, 2017
He actually quoted the NY Times, but journalists and twitter users pounced on him suggesting he lied about the NY Times:
The first line of the @nytimes story literally says the two spoke Thursday evening: https://t.co/jGdiIerMv1 pic.twitter.com/f0PdIH5sGa
— Kyle Griffin (@kylegriffin1) February 10, 2017
Literally the 1st sentence of the NYT story: "President Trump told President Xi Jinping of China on Thursday evening …" https://t.co/2Ei5CtjpXX
— Jonathan Chait (@jonathanchait) February 10, 2017
omfg he's referring to an article ABOUT yesterday's call. In graf 3 it says they had *previously* not spoken since Nov 14 https://t.co/Hpqr59dCf8
— Daniel Radosh (@danielradosh) February 10, 2017
Dude, you're really not cut out for this job. Unravelling quick here. Just imagine if the dems treated you as bad as the GOP treated Obama. https://t.co/zdao9Yd1L7
— David Yankovich (@DavidYankovich) February 10, 2017
A BRTUAL misrepresentation. The NYT article is ABOUT yesterday's call, & says "had not spoken to Mr. Trump since Nov. 14," not "has." FAKE. https://t.co/HMS892YpyG
— J.D. Durkin (@jiveDurkey) February 10, 2017
Here’s the problem. The NY Times CHANGED their story at the same URL so that by the time people saw the article after the tweet, it had been changed to reflect the call. So instead of digging like they should, they just accused Trump of lying.
We know this thanks to Gabriel Malor who revealed both versions of the NY Times article:
Here's the original version (left) and the new version that recounts the phone call. Both pieces foolishly use the same URL. pic.twitter.com/iOeWa0bwAG
— Gabriel Malor (@gabrielmalor) February 10, 2017
Here’s the two versions that Malor tweeted (click to enlarge):
ORIGINAL:
EDITED:
What’s so offensive about this is that the NY Times reported in the original version that China’s President SHUNNED Trump, which was not true at all.
Here’s more from Malor:
It is poor journalism to replace an article at a URL without noting that the replacement is materially different.
— Gabriel Malor (@gabrielmalor) February 10, 2017
And now, of course, journalists are playing 'GOTCHA' without being aware that NYTimes changed the story.
— Gabriel Malor (@gabrielmalor) February 10, 2017
Also, I would not hold my breath that any of the journalists that pounced on the tweet apologize and correct.
— Gabriel Malor (@gabrielmalor) February 10, 2017
Would you assholes please stop making me defend Trump? It's irritating.
— Gabriel Malor (@gabrielmalor) February 10, 2017
BTW, https://t.co/ULTEUA0z4Q can be an outstanding tool for keeping journos honest. Remember it.
— Gabriel Malor (@gabrielmalor) February 10, 2017
UPDATE: I removed Patterico’s tweet as he informed me that he was making a different point.