An emotional moment unfolded in court as a former opinion page editor for The New York Times issued a tearful apology to Sarah Palin over a 2017 editorial that she claims harmed her reputation. James Bennet testified that he had made an error when writing that the former Alaska governor’s political action committee had fostered an atmosphere of violence prior to a member of Congress being severely injured in a 2011 mass shooting in Arizona. The Times has admitted that the editorial was inaccurate but noted that the mistake was promptly corrected.
Bennet, visibly emotional, expressed his regret to the former Republican vice presidential candidate, stating he was “really upset” by the incident. His apology was described as “heartfelt” and “moving” by Judge Jed S. Rakoff during a break in the proceedings. Despite the apology, Palin, scheduled to testify the following week, appeared unimpressed as she left the courthouse, questioning the time elapsed since the editorial’s publication and correction.
The case sees Bennet and The Times defending themselves once again against Palin’s lawsuit. In February 2022, a jury ruled against Palin’s libel claims. However, the 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Manhattan revived the case due to previously made errors by the judge. Palin initially sued The Times in 2017 for unspecified damages, arguing that the editorial damaged her reputation and career as a political commentator. The editorial, focused on gun control, was published after U.S. Representative Steve Scalise was injured by a gunman during a congressional baseball team practice.
The controversial editorial had claimed that, before the 2011 mass shooting in Arizona that wounded former U.S. Representative Gabby Giffords and killed six others, Palin’s political action committee contributed to a violent atmosphere by distributing a map marking electoral districts with crosshairs, including Giffords and 19 other Democrats. The Times later issued a correction, clarifying that there was no link between political rhetoric and the 2011 shooting and acknowledging the mischaracterization of the map.
