Biden Privately ‘Raged’ At The New York Times’s Gaza Hospital Bombing Coverage: Report

AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin

President Joe Biden reportedly “raged” during a private White House meeting last week at the New York Times’s coverage of the Gaza Hospital bombing on Oct. 17, which the storied paper eventually addressed in a lengthy editor’s note.

Biden “told a small group of Wall Street executives in the White House’s Roosevelt Room early last week that he thought the headline was irresponsible and could have triggered military escalation in the Middle East,” reported Semafor on Sunday evening.

The report by Max Tani and Liz Hoffman cited two people “briefed” on the conversation and added that Biden “fumed in particular” that the headline immediately blaming Israel for the deadly bombing of the hospital ran “in an American newspaper.”

Multiple U.S. media outlets immediately cited the Hamas-linked Gaza Ministry of Health, claiming Israel blew up the hospital, killing 500 people. The news of the event immediately roiled the Middle East and led to Biden’s summit with the leaders of Jordan and Egypt being canceled.

The Times eventually edited its headline and coverage of the story as Israel denied bombing the hospital, and U.S. and European intelligence agencies joined Israel in finding that an Islamic Jihad rocket misfire was most likely responsible for the blast, which happened in the parking lot of the hospital. U.S. intelligence estimates put the death toll from the blast between 100 and 300 people, which led to Biden saying last week that he has “no confidence” in the exact numbers coming of Gaza regarding casualties. Biden did acknowledge the large-scale loss of civilian life in Gaza, which is reported to be in the thousands.

“Given the sensitive nature of the news during a widening conflict and the prominent promotion it received, Times editors should have taken more care with the initial presentation, and been more explicit about what information could be verified. Newsroom leaders continue to examine procedures around the biggest breaking news events — including for the use of the largest headlines in the digital report — to determine what additional safeguards may be warranted,” wrote the Times in an editor’s note on October 23rd.

Semafor noted that Biden has long had a contentious relationship with the Times. “Biden’s relationship with the news organization soured during his presidential campaign over what his team saw as unfavorable coverage that underestimated his electoral chances and political instincts,” Semafor noted, adding:

Biden has continued to rebuff interview requests with the paper’s news reporters, opting instead to speak with its friendlier opinion columnists. On X, the White House has repeatedly boosted the New York Times Pitchbot, a popular progressive account that attempts to spoof the paper.

Read the full report here.