Bari Weiss’ CBS News retracts ‘brazen lie’ after false smear of progressive Dem: report

Bari Weiss’ CBS News New York was forced to remove a line from its coverage of New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani after journalist Judd Legum identified what he called a “brazen lie” about the progressive Democratic mayor, Legum reported Tuesday.

CBS News’ report centered around a petition launched by Giovanni Galante, whose husband died in the 9/11 attacks, calling for Mamdani – who is Muslim – to stay away from the 25th remembrance ceremony of the attacks. As of Tuesday morning, the petition had more than 24,000 signatures.

The conservative tabloid New York Post ran a report Sunday about the petition, and with the initial headline, according to Legum: “STAY AWAY: Thousands of 9/11 families demand Mamdani be banned from 25th-Anniversary.” On Monday, Legum said CBS News New York published a similar report, in which it claimed “thousands of 9/11 victims’ families” were asking Mamdani not to attend the ceremony.

Writing in a report published Tuesday on Popular Information, his independent news publication, Legum noted that the New York Post’s report directly contradicted its own headline by claiming “at least 300 victims’ families” had signed the petition, despite the headline claiming it to have been “thousands.”

To get to the bottom of the discrepancy, Legum conducted an interview with Galante, who went on to admit that no list existed regarding how many of the petition’s signatories were 9/11 victims’ families.

“Rather, the 300 figure that organizers shared with the New York Post was an estimate based on how they believe the petition spread before it received much publicity,” Legum wrote.

Galante went on to explain how organizers came to the 300 figure.

“We all know each other, so…think about it. If you know 10 people and they give it to 10 more people they know that lost,” Galante said, according to Legum. “That’s how we got the 300 number. I don’t go through the list and look at the names.”

Legum later contacted CBS News New York for comment regarding the apparent discrepancy, after which, he said, the outlet had amended its report.

“After Popular Information reached out for comment, that line was removed,” Legum wrote. “A revised article on the CBS website says the petition has ‘purportedly drawn thousands of signatures, including some victims' families.’”

Further supporting Legum’s claim that CBS News New York had amended its report was a Monday post on the publication’s Facebook page, which showed that the original caption retained the "thousands of 9/11 victims’ families” figure before being edited later that same night to “some 9/11 victims’ families.”