Former New York Times opinions editor apologizes to Sarah Palin over 2017 editorial

A former New York Times opinions editor on Thursday emotionally apologized to former Republican vice presidential nominee Sarah Palin for an opinion piece that he edited in 2017, which she claimed was defamatory.

The article, which was published in the wake of a shooting at a congressional baseball practice in Virginia, attempted to argue that the former Alaska governor’s political action committee contributed to an atmosphere of violence in the months leading up to the 2011 assassination attempt on then-Arizona Rep. Gabby Giffords.

The piece attempted to connect a map Palin’s political action committee released, which showcased crosshairs over Democratic congressional electoral districts, to the 2011 assassination attempt, even though there was no evidence that the 2017 gunman ever saw the map.

The New York Times quickly revised the opinion piece and admitted in a note that the argument was inaccurate. 

James Bennet, the former editor responsible for the inaccuracy in the piece, admitted during a defamation trial on Thursday that he put the information into the op-ed without vetting it first. He also apologized for the "mistake."

“I blew it, you know, I made a mistake," Bennet said on the stand. “I did, and I do apologize to Governor Palin for this mistake."

He also testified that he did not believe the piece was implying that the map had caused the gunman to shoot lawmakers, but that he believed rhetoric could have "played a role." He also said he did not believe the governor was responsible.

“There wasn’t any part of me that thought that Sarah Palin herself had drawn the crosshairs on the map or something like that,” Bennet said.

The current defamation trial is the second trial over the piece, after a jury ruled against Palin in 2022. But an appeals court later reinstated the case. Palin is expected to take the stand next week, according to the New York Post.

Misty Severi is a news reporter for Just The News. You can follow her on X for more coverage.