On Tuesday, a member of The New York Times editorial board who is known for her anti-Trump views blamed President Trump, not any official of New York City or New York state, for a water main break in East Harlem.
Mara Gay of the Times was triggered by a tweet reporting, “DAY 2 NO RUNNING WATER: Hundreds of families in 3 buildings still don’t have running water at the Taft Houses in East Harlem. A water main break caused 9 buildings 3,000 people lost water service. Live at 5:15 with the latest on when water will be restored.”
DAY 2 NO RUNNING WATER: Hundreds of families in 3 buildings still don’t have running water at the Taft Houses in East Harlem. A water main break caused 9 buildings 3,000 people lost water service. Live at 5:15 with the latest on when water will be restored. @PIX11News pic.twitter.com/3VlDFGWQI9
— Monica Morales (@monicamoralestv) February 24, 2020
Gay responded, “But make America great again, right?”
But make America great again, right? https://t.co/PfDXcZ2wBA
— Mara Gay (@MaraGay) February 24, 2020
Social media ripped Gay for blaming Trump:
Are you blaming Trump because a waterpipe in NYC is not working?
And you are actually part of the editorial board at the @nytimes?
— Reagan Battalion (@ReaganBattalion) February 24, 2020
New York Times editorial board member does not realize that New York and New York City are all run by Democrats https://t.co/3sx2pBcggU pic.twitter.com/xo3tmrJNc9
— (((Jason Rantz))) on KTTH Radio (@jasonrantz) February 25, 2020
Hey @realDonaldTrump, could you pop by and see if you can get the **water main** on the street here fixed?
Clearly you are the only one capable. https://t.co/UcLwEacf3V
— Chad Felix Greene (@chadfelixg) February 24, 2020
The federal government doesn't control the public utilities in Harlem. If you're looking to blame someone, you might consider the…
–mayor (D)
–city council (D)
–governor (D)
–state assembly (D)
–state senate (D)
–NYT editorial board (D) for endorsing all those people— Michael Knowles (@michaeljknowles) February 24, 2020
At the end of January, Gay compared Republicans’ behavior during the impeachment trial of President Trump to the way politicians had defended the Jim Crow South, stating on MSNBC, “I have to say, as somebody who grew up with a father who grew up in the Jim Crow South and in Jim Crow Detroit, a lot of what this has looked like from the Republican side, the kind of imagining and the farcical nature of this, the lack of good faith argument sounds very familiar to me, and it’s actually quite scary. I think we’re in a very scary moment.”
As The Daily Wire reported in July 2019, Gay issued a brutal comment to Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX) after Cruz corrected Colin Kaepernick over a misleading quote from Frederick Douglass that Kaepernick tweeted on the 4th of July that did not capture the full context of Douglass’ speech.
Kaepernick tweeted, “‘What have I, or those I represent, to do with your national independence? This Fourth of July is yours, not mine…There is not a nation on the earth guilty of practices more shocking and bloody than are the people of these United States at this very hour.’ – Frederick Douglass.”
Cruz fired back this fusillade:
You quote a mighty and historic speech by the great abolitionist Frederick Douglass, but, without context, many modern readers will misunderstand. Two critical points: This speech was given in 1852, before the Civil War, when the abomination of slavery still existed. Thanks to Douglass and so many other heroes, we ended that grotesque evil and have made enormous strides to protecting the civil rights of everybody.
Douglass was not anti-American; he was, rightly and passionately, anti-slavery. Indeed, he concluded the speech as follows: “Allow me to say, in conclusion, notwithstanding the dark picture I have this day presented, of the state of the nation, I do not despair of this country.”
Cruz quoted Douglass:
There are forces in operation, which must inevitably, work the downfall of slavery. The arm of the Lord is not shortened, and the doom of slavery is certain. I, therefore, leave off where I began, with hope. While drawing encouragement from the Declaration of Independence, the great principles it contains, and the genius of American Institutions, my spirit is also cheered by the obvious tendencies of the age.
Gay ranted at Cruz, “Frederick Douglass is an American hero, and his name has no business in your mouth.”
Cruz had a ready answer, responding, “Let’s see. You’re on the editorial board of the NYT. You respond to any view you don’t like, not with facts or reason, but w/ ad hominem attack. And you seem dismayed that I linked to Douglass’s entire speech, so readers can judge for themselves.”