The New York Times has gone from being a trusted news source to a publication willing to omit parts of President Trump’s statements to make them appear coherent and less volatile.
The process, as the Daily Kos notes, is called “sanewashing,” and the New York Times and other publications have been guilty of it during both of Trump’s terms in office.
Daily Kos reports that on Easter Sunday Trump sent out a Truth Social post reading, “Tuesday will be Power Plant Day, and Bridge Day, all wrapped up in one, in Iran. There will be nothing like it!!! Open the Fuckin’ Strait, you crazy bastards, or you’ll be living in Hell – JUST WATCH! Praise be to Allah. President DONALD J. TRUMP”
But in its initial report on Trump’s post, the comments had been edited by the Times. The Times told its readers that Trump wrote it would be “power plant day and bridge day” but deleted the part about him telling Iran to “open the F–kin’ Strait.” The change made Trump’s unhinged expletive tainted post sound way more above board than it was.
After social media users called out the newspaper for deleting the expletive, the Times added it back without explanation or an editor’s note.
“The process of “sanewashing” Trump’s remarks has been practiced for years by the mainstream media. This is the practice of reporting on what Trump said, but removing the consistently strange, sexist, racist, homophobic, misogynistic, and otherwise offensive context to his remarks. This isn’t merely the process of editing out verbal tics, but instead leaving an impression of Trump that is far different from the person he truly is,” Daily Kos reports.
The news site notes that the Times is not the only news site to have given Trump political assist when he begins rambling or goes on unhinged rants, but they might be the most storied news publication to wade in these waters.
“For instance, in January when Trump appeared at the World Economics Forum in Davos, Switzerland, he confused Greenland with Iceland during commentary on possible U.S. military action against the sovereign territory. He also made the cringeworthy statement that “they call me Daddy” in Greenland. The Times purged the “daddy” comment from its report on Trump and simply noted that he had purportedly ruled out the use of force,” Daily Kos reports.
Then in February, during Trump’s State of the Union speech, the Times said Trump simply “put on a show” using the “slashing style of a natural campaigner.” But they somehow failed to mention that Trump’s speech often veered into racist commentary about Somali immigrants in Minnesota. He also defended ICE, who used brutal and possibly illegal tactics targeting people of color that included the killings of innocent Americans.
