An illegal immigrant was arrested for seizing 20-year-old Mollie Tibbetts and murdering her in cold blood, but the latest New York Times article on the subject blasts Trump for “seizing” on the story of the young woman’s murder.
According to records from NewsDiffs, the story’s original headline, “Body Believed to Be That of Mollie Tibbetts, Iowa College Student, Is Found,” was changed to, “After an Immigrant’s Arrest, Trump Seizes on Killing of Mollie Tibbetts, Iowa Student.”
Quotes from President Trump at a rally in West Virgina on Tuesday night were also quietly moved from the bottom of the story to the top, following the lede.
President Trump, who has repeatedly linked crime to illegal immigration, alluded to the case at a rally Tuesday evening in West Virginia.
“You heard about today with the illegal alien coming in, very sadly from Mexico, and you saw what happened to that incredible, beautiful young woman,” Mr. Trump said. “It should’ve never happened. Illegally in our country. We’ve had a huge impact, but the laws are so bad, the immigration laws are such a disgrace.”
The contents of the story’s abstract have also been drastically changed.
Change in Abstract pic.twitter.com/xN3fObClpu
— Editing TheGrayLady (@nyt_diff) August 22, 2018
Reporter Alex Griswold pointed out that The New York Times has alternative, less violent verbs for headlines about President Obama politicizing tragedies.
https://twitter.com/HashtagGriswold/status/1032293042391314433?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw
The New York Times made all the edits to the story without any kind of notice to its readers.
