Republican presidential primary candidate Nikki Haley condemned the New York Times for publishing an Op Ed by the Hamas-appointed Mayor of Gaza City, Yahya R. Sarraj.
"Remember when New York Times staff threw a tantrum over a Republican senator’s op-ed?" Haley wrote on X, formerly Twitter, referencing the uproar by Times staffers over the publishing of an Op Ed by Republican Senator Tom Cotton calling for the activation of the National Guard in response to mass riots in American cities following the killing of George Floyd by Minneapolis police officers in 2020. The angry staffers forced the resignation of then-Opinion Editor James Bennet.
"We heard no complaints from NYT staff about publishing an op-ed by a Hamas-appointed mayor over Christmas. That tells you everything you need to know about the state of our media," Haley wrote.
The Times' decision to publish the Hamas mayor's Op Ed was also condemned by Speaker of the House of Representatives Mike Johnson (R-LA), who wrote on X: "The New York Times provided a platform to a politician appointed by Hamas — the group designated by America as a foreign terrorist organization and responsible for the heinous October 7th massacre. Does the NYT have no shame?"
The Op Ed by Sarraj, titled 'I Am Gaza City’s Mayor. Our Lives and Culture Are in Rubble,' was published on Christmas Eve and blamed Israel for the destruction in Gaza since the Hamas massacre of October 7.
Sarraj was appointed by Hamas in 2019 without being elected by the people.
Jewish groups also condemned the Times for publishing the piece. The Coalition for Jewish Values, an organization representing over 2,500 traditional, Orthodox rabbis in America, stated that the decision to publish the Op Ed without critical comment or rebuttal fit with the Times' recent history of publishing antisemitic materials.
“By printing propaganda from an anti-Jewish terrorist organization,” said CJV Vice President Rabbi Dov Fischer, “The New York Times continues its long and sordid history of antisemitic bias. America’s 'paper of record' buried news of the Holocaust and Hitler’s atrocities from readers, and due to its influence much of the nation’s media followed suit. Today the Times publishes libelous screeds about Orthodox Jewish institutions, and maintains a steady beat of distorted reporting on Israel that has poisoned generations of subscribers.”