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“ ‘No.’ ”
That’s the answer The New York Times NYT, +1.62% gave to Sean Hannity’s lawyer, who had been seeking a retraction or an apology from the paper for its criticisms of the popular Fox News host’s coverage of the coronavirus pandemic.
“The columns are accurate, do not reasonably imply what you and Mr. Hannity allege they do, and constitute protected opinion,” wrote New York Times legal counsel David E. McCraw.
Here’s his full response, which has been widely circulated on social media:
Charles Harder sent the letter Monday singling out several columns published in the Times, including one focusing on Joe Joyce, a Brooklyn bar owner who — believing the virus “was under control” after watching Fox — took a cruise to Spain and later contracted the coronavirus.
“We write concerning the New York Times’ blatant and outrageous disregard for the truth in mischaracterizing Mr. Hannity’s coverage of the coronavirus pandemic and blaming him for the tragic death of Joe Joyce,” Harder wrote in the letter.
Hannity, for his part, has previously called out the column as a “smear” that exploited Joyce’s death and “pretty much all but accused [him] of murder.”
Harder went on to flag a number of stories that illustrate the paper’s “ongoing campaign to personally attack Mr. Hannity by mischaracterizing and making false statements.” He added that Hannity has “extensively and truthfully covered the virus and the seriousness of the pandemic.”
The Times, on the other hand, has failed to turn its lens on the coverage by “Democratic Party–friendly media outlets, including ABC, NBC, CBS, and MSNBC,” Harder wrote.
