NYT slammed for claiming a GOP activist is a ‘Hillary-Biden voter’ for Youngkin

New York Times reporter Jeremy Peters is under fire after the "paper of record" ran a story Sunday he authored on the "increasingly close race for governor" of Virginia. Polls show former Democratic Virginia Governor Terry McAuliffe is neck-and-neck with businessman Glenn Youngkin (photo, speaking at a Family Research Council event), a Trump-endorsed Republican who has done a good job of hiding his far right leanings and associations.

The election is Tuesday.

"Mr. Youngkin has framed the election as an opportunity for Virginians to send a message to the nation that Democrats are out of step with the majority of Americans on a number of issues, from how racial inequality is taught in schools to coronavirus-related mandates," Peters writes.

That's false, or at least grossly misleading: the majority of Americans strongly support mask mandates. And USA Today in September reported "60% of American parents want their kids to learn about the ongoing effects of slavery and racism as part of their K-12 education," a fact Peters neglected to note.

But the real issue many are angered about are these two paragraphs:

“I'm a Hillary-Biden voter," said Glenn Miller, a lawyer from McLean, as he walked into a Youngkin rally in southern Fairfax County on Saturday night that drew more than 1,000 people. He explained his tipping point: Working from home and hearing his teenage daughter's teacher make a comment during a virtual lesson about white men as modern-day slaveholders.

“There are a lot of people like me who are annoyed," he said, adding that he was able to vote for Mr. Youngkin because he did not associate him as a Trump Republican. “My problem with Trump was I thought he was embarrassing. I just don't think Youngkin is going to embarrass me or the state."

Peters pushed that angle on Twitter, calling Miller a "Hillary-Biden voter & dad" who is voting Republican because he can "stomach" Youngkin.

In fact, as many on social media noted, Glenn Miller is more than likely not a "Hillary-Biden voter," but, as some on social media have revealed, a "GOP activist," donor, and author.

Award-winning journalist and author Jonathan Katz notes that the "supposed Biden-turned-Youngkin voter [Jeremy Peters] quoted wrote an article about CRT and race-based admissions for Quillette two months before the 2020 election."

Quillette is a right wing website that, as one writer at The Nation says, "normalizes the alt-right," and is "repackaging discredited race science."

And as Katz's tweet shows, others are focusing in on that false "Hillary-Biden voter & dad" angle:

The supposed Biden-turned-Youngkin voter @jwpetersNYT quoted wrote an article about CRT and race-based admissions for Quillette two months before the 2020 election: https://t.co/qTHxKZb02W https://t.co/GrHh3NBcAD
— Jonathan M. Katz (@KatzOnEarth) November 1, 2021

"I've said it before, but Peters is either the most gullible reporter on the NYT staff or a Republican operative," Katz adds.

It's hard to see someone with this many donations to Republicans being a "Hillary-Biden voter."

Looking at Mr. Miller's recent donation history, I'd say he's more of a ... Republican (HT @joshtpm) pic.twitter.com/JMmDQCeqRU
— Jonathan M. Katz (@KatzOnEarth) November 1, 2021

Katz also reveals that Miller has authored articles for the Fairfax, Virginia GOP.

Sensitive to the mounting criticism, Peters early Monday tweeted: "If you're a political independent who works for a nonprofit that helps vulnerable women, voted for Biden and say you think Trump is embarrassing, Twitter will still call you a rightwing nut who dupes gullible journalists. What a place."

But Katz adds that "Miller is a highly paid, very much for profit real estate lawyer in addition to being a right-wing anti-'CRT' activist," and criticizes the piece as "amateur."

Peters' additional claim was also debunked.

Attorney and upcoming author Luppe B. Luppen:

Peters' defense either mistakes Katten for a nonprofit or misleadingly portrays a charity directorship as a main gig. The point he seems to be missing is the founder of an astroturfy anti-CRT group featured on GOP platforms in the run up to 2020 with a long GOP donation history… pic.twitter.com/Hhn9CqtRRg
— southpaw (@nycsouthpaw) November 1, 2021

Luppen notes this is not the first time for Peters:

This happens again and again in the pages of the New York Times beneath the byline of Jeremy Peters. https://t.co/L0GtwQVf4t
— southpaw (@nycsouthpaw) November 1, 2021

Here's how some others are responding:

It's difficult to see @nytimes lack of fact-checking as unintentional…👇 It's looking more like a disturbing pattern. https://t.co/cGtlA3kpLl
— LizzieShore😷 (@lizzieshore) November 1, 2021

So this is another astro-turfed nonsense article. Noted.
— maraleia (@maraleia) November 1, 2021

To be a proper Onion headline, it would read: "I'm a Swing Voter" says GOP Party Official Speaking to NYT Reporter.
— Giant Apes on the Moon! (@GiantMoonApes) November 1, 2021

https://t.co/VrmgXDfSR2
— elected means accountable (@willb2lux) November 1, 2021

Opinion | I was a lifelong self-described conservative. Then I was interviewed by Jeremy Peters. https://t.co/JG23FJRVAt
— New York Times Pitchbot (@DougJBalloon) November 1, 2021

Jeremy Peters, the NY Times writer assigned to cover the right who has once again quoted a conservative activist like they're just a random person, is friends with Steve Bannon. In a documentary from a couple years ago you can see them chumming it up on a cab ride.
— Oliver Willis (@owillis) November 1, 2021

Peters could have avoided this simply by giving the dude an accurate label, like "never-Trump Republican." Instead he tried to pass the guy off as a centrist liberal, which is inaccurate and misleading. People are rightly calling bullshit on that. https://t.co/5KzGWcho6w
— Christopher Ingraham (@_cingraham) November 1, 2021

Thread on Jeremy Peters work as a disinfo clean up man for the right https://t.co/Y8zZjGTjSX
— Oliver Willis (@owillis) November 1, 2021