Anna Ayala in 2005. (AP Photo/Paul Sakuma)

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In a case of incredibly weird odds, The New York Times issued a retraction on Thursday of a quote it used in an article about new polling — because of all the people they asked about the 2024 presidential election, one of them was the woman who was convicted of fraud for planting a severed finger in a cup of chili.

The article, about a new NYT/Siena poll that has Vice President Kamala Harris narrowing the gap on former President Donald Trump, quoted a few registered voters on their electoral choices. One of them caught the eye of The Atlantic senior editor Gilad Edelman, who took a screenshot of the quote and shared it on Twitter/X:

The voter in question, Anna Ayala, said that she was voting for Trump because “the border situation is out of control.” But perhaps she just sees more of herself in the former president because she, like Trump, is a convicted felon with some fraud charges.

Back in 2005, Ayala and her husband pleaded guilty to charges that

she planted a severed finger in a serving of Wendy’s chili as part of an extortion scheme. They were sentenced to a few years in prison and banned from Wendy’s restaurants for life. (And for anyone wondering where the finger came from, a family friend lost it in an “industrial accident” and then just… gave it away.)

Perhaps realizing that quoting a notorious fraudster — Ayala took part in a series of schemes before and after the Wendy’s incident — might not be a great look, The New York Times removed her quote and issued a retraction:

Editors’ Note: July 25, 2024The Times removed comments from one voter in an earlier version of this article after learning that the person had been convicted in an extortion scheme in which she made fraudulent claims.

The article stated that Harris was gaining on Trump in groups like young voters and non-white voters while Trump retained at least one faction of the fraudster vote.

Tags: Anna Ayala, retractions, The New York Times