Former NYT editor apologizes to Sarah Palin at defamation trial

James Bennet on Thursday tearfully apologized to Sarah Palin for a 2017 editorial that erroneously connected  a mass shooting to  the former Alaska governor and Republican nominee for vice president. Bennet said he was sorry for the editorial and should not have published it, the Associated Press reported. The former editor of The New York Times editorial page testified in court before U.S. District Judge Jed Saul Rakoff in New York.

The editorial blamed Palin for creating an atmosphere of violence that contributed to a 2011 shooting that wounded former U.S. Rep. Gabby Giffords and killed six others. The New York Times quickly corrected the story. The paper said the original version of the editorial incorrectly characterized a map that Palin’s team created with crosshairs logos on electoral districts, including Giffords’ district.

How did Palin respond to Bennet’s apology?  Palin, who sued the paper for defamation, seemed unimpressed. She pointed out the amount of time between the editorial’s publication and the apology, according to the Associated Press. Palin first brought the suit in 2017, saying the editorial damaged her career and reputation. A jury ruled against her claims in 2022, but the 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Manhattan sent the case to a retrial based on errors in the previous decision. Palin is set to testify next week.