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The New York Times has faced a furious backlash for revealing that Zohran Mamdani, the current favorite for New York mayor, lied about being black on his application to study at Columbia University.
An article by The Times alleged Mamdani described himself as Asian and African American on a college application in 2009, despite having no African American ancestry.
Mamdani’s application form was made available to The Times following a cyberattack on Columbia University, which led to sensitive information being obtained by the hackers.
Liberals were incensed by the story, which was perceived as being a direct attack on the radical left-wing candidate.
On X, Keither Olbermann wrote, “Your absolute abrogation of the NYT standards would in a better era there have led the full range of you in management to resign. Utter failure. Then again, if you don’t realize NYT is perceived as actively campaigning against Mamdani, you’re all lost anyway.”
Assistant Managing Editor for Standards and Trust at The Times, Patrick Healy, issued a long Twitter thread on Friday attempting to justify the choice to run the story and the decision to use information that had been obtained through hacking.
“Our reporters obtained information about Mr. Mamdani’s Columbia college application and went to the Mamdani campaign with it. When we hear anything of news value, we try to confirm it through direct sources. Mr. Mamdani confirmed this information in an interview with The Times,” he wrote.
Mamdani is running on a platform that includes a number of radical left-wing reforms, including the establishment of city-owned grocery stores, free childcare and a new tax on residents earning over $1 million a year.
He has also repeatedly said he would tax white neighborhoods in New York more heavily than others.
President Trump has threatened to withhold federal funding from New York if Mamdani wins the race, in November.
Speaking to Maria Bartiromo of Fox News said he would take the drastic measure if Mamdani doesn’t “do the right thing.”
“He’s a communist,” Trump said.
“I think it’s very bad for New York. I don’t know that he’s gonna get in. It’s inconceivable… but he’s a communist, and he’s pure communist. I think he admits it. I can’t imagine it, but let’s say this: If he does get in, I’m gonna be president, then he’s going to have to do the right thing, but they’re not getting any money. He’s got to do to the right thing.”
Trump went on to make the threat a more general one.
“I can tell you this. Whoever’s mayor of New York is going to have to behave themselves, or the federal government is coming down very tough on them financially.”
Mamdani is currently the favorite, with Star Sports offering odds of ¼ or 80% on his becoming mayor.
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