New York Times battered on MSNBC for pushing smear of Hunter Biden in order to maintain access to Trump

An "AM Joy" panel jumped all over the New York Times for pushing a widely debunked smear of Hunter Biden promoted by Donald Trump, saying the newspaper is more interested in maintaining their access to the Oval Office than debunking the lie.

Speaking with host Joy Reid -- who noted that her producers asked for comment from the Times but were rebuffed -- MSNBC regular Maria Teresa Kumar scorched the Times, as well as reporter Ken Vogel, for the uncritical parroting of the president's smear.

Pointing to Vogel's story and noting his source was a Breitbart writer, Kumar explained, "The biggest challenge, Ken Vogel does not declare the source , that Peter Schweizer,  is underwritten by the Mercer family -- the Mercer family is a neo-facist family that underwrites Steve Bannon and the Breitbart Report so it is not credible."

"What they had done so stealthily, so well, is that they know that if they can have any type of story in an established newspaper, as is the New York Times, that it any breeds a sense of legitimacy," she continued. "Fox News takes it and Breitbart takes it, all the ultra-rightwings take it and say, 'Look, the New York Times is saying it, so it must be true.' That's a lack of due diligence."

"It's disappointing in the New York Times, quite frankly," she further explained. "When they try to equate something with Biden and Trump, they're trying to make sure they continue having access to the president and that's not the way to do it."

With host Reid noting Vogel's desire to not appear on her show, AM Joy regular Eric Boehlert called the Times reporting, including previous stories about Democrats and Hillary Clinton, "Timidity access journalism."

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