On Sunday, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi torpedoed the third installment of the bipartisan Wuhan virus stimulus bill negotiated in the upper chamber to provide additional relief to those impacted by the economic fallout.
With no end in sight to the government-sanctioned shut down, the Senate prepared a $1.8 trillion relief package to put cash in the hands of laid off workers. The proposal however, wasn’t enough for Pelosi who came back from vacation to kill the bill.
When reporting on the Democratic blunder, The New York Times got the headline right the first time, only to change it three times to appease readers upset that the first two described the Democratic response honestly, but negatively.
“Democrats Block Action on $1.8 Trillion Stimulus,” the Times wrote first.
“Democrats Block Action on Stimulus Plan, Seeking Worker Protections,” it said next.
“Partisan Divide Threatens Deal On Rescue Bill,” the paper had settled on before changing it again after being called out by conservatives.
Now the headline reads, “Emergency Economic Rescue Plan in Limbo as Democrats Block Action.”
Love the evolving storyline here,@nytimes. pic.twitter.com/KJhwHW7ZHr
— Drew Holden (@DrewHolden360) March 23, 2020
The decision to block the legislation drew sharp condemnation from Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell of Kentucky on the Senate floor.
“This obstruction achieves nothing. Nothing whatsoever,” McConnell said. “We have an obligation to the American people to deal with this emergency and to deal with it tomorrow… I’ve conspicuously avoided trying to turn this into any kind of partisan effort for two days.”
Tonight's speech by Mitch will be rememberedpic.twitter.com/5WZ3qztor3
— Jerry Dunleavy (@JerryDunleavy) March 23, 2020
This is not the first instance that the Times has caved to its left-wing readers by changing its headline. When reporting on the back-to-back shootings in Ohio and Texas at the end of last summer, the Times headline read “Trump Urged Unity Vs. Racism,” and changed it to “Assailing Hate But Not Guns.”
Tomorrow’s @nytimes tonight, second edition: @realDonaldTrump assails hate but not guns; China employs currency in trade feud, jolting markets. #nytimes pic.twitter.com/1fD4pVEbaF
— Tom Jolly (@TomJolly) August 6, 2019
