Donald Trump threw down the gauntlet and the New York Times just accepted the challenge.
The publication welcomed Trump’s threat of a lawsuit on Thursday, standing by its story on accusations against the Republican presidential nominee.
New York Times responds to Donald Trump’s threat of lawsuit: “We did what the law allows.” https://t.co/ru4465OlIu pic.twitter.com/uUiyQ59lX2
— ABC News (@ABC) October 14, 2016
Trump threatened to sue the Times if it did not retract a “reckless, defamatory” report on two women who alleged that Trump touched them inappropriately years ago.
New York Times general counsel David McCraw responded to the letter from Trump’s attorney stating the publication would not retract its story.
“The essence of a libel claim, of course, is the protection of one’s reputation,” he wrote. Â “Mr. Trump has bragged about his non-consensual sexual touching of women. He has bragged about intruding on beauty pageant contestants in their dressing rooms. He acquiesced to a radio host’s request to discuss Mr. Trump’s own daughter as a ‘piece of ass.’ Multiple women not mentioned in our article have publicly come forward to report on Mr. Trump’s unwanted advances.”
The letter continued:Â “Nothing in our article has had the slightest effect on the reputation that Mr. Trump, through his own words and actions, has already created for himself.”
After Trump threatened to sue, the NYT responded with a letter that basically said, “Bring it. We dare you.” https://t.co/7a6e5sNvvs
— Elite Daily (@EliteDaily) October 13, 2016
McCraw wrote that the women in the report “spoke out on an issue of national importance,” adding that “it would have been a disservice not just to our readers but to democracy itself to silence their voices.”
“If Mr. Trump disagrees,” he continued in the letter, ” if he believes that American citizens had no right to hear what these women had to say and that the law of this country forces us and those who would dare to criticize him to stand silent or be punished, we welcome the opportunity to have a court set him straight.”
NYT responds to Trump re: cease and desist pic.twitter.com/3AozcWSIl6
— Jake Tapper (@jaketapper) October 13, 2016
The NYT attorney seems to want Trump to sue, read to the end. pic.twitter.com/rhlqnp2nTf
— Jake Tapper (@jaketapper) October 13, 2016
New York Times dares Donald Trump to sue over sexual assault claimshttps://t.co/z49dAjAr9S
— The Independent (@Independent) October 14, 2016
Some applauded the Times response, calling it a showdown over the First Amendment and patriotism.
Read it. This is true patriotism.
NYT refuses Trump lawyers’ demand to retract story about two of his accusers https://t.co/Rkz6RCrDDB— Adam Strasberg (@astras) October 14, 2016
Read excellent @nytimes response to @realDonaldTrump lawyers https://t.co/Ln7XbVLKNQ @davidmccraw
— Mickey Osterreicher (@nppalawyer) October 13, 2016
Facing libel suit, @nytimes schools Trump on the 1st Amendment and censorship, invites a courtroom showdown: https://t.co/lOFT3vgU7w
— Mark Joseph Stern (@mjs_DC) October 13, 2016
“We have to be fair and even in this campaign and not basically take sides,” said Mark Halperin.
Mark Halperin criticizes @nytimes for responding to Trump’s legal threats: “We have to be fair and even” https://t.co/anEDjhSwyy
— Media Matters (@mmfa) October 13, 2016
The New York Post criticized the Times for its “empty Trump exposé” and said the “self-styled paper of record will bend over backward to smear a Republican candidate.”
Maybe @NYTimes would have more credibility if they didn’t have a track record of baseless smears against Trump? https://t.co/RR7nEwiqBS
— Mr. America (@OMFG_America) October 14, 2016
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