Emir Olivares and Arturo Sanchez

The newspaper La Jornada
Thursday, July 18, 2024, p. 22

President Andrés Manuel López Obrador criticized the American newspaper The New York Times has published an editorial imperative and authoritarian in which he called on US voters to decline Republican Party candidate Donald Trump.

At the opening of yesterday’s morning press conference, the federal president spoke out against censorship and manipulation by some media outlets, and assured that it is not a practice exclusive to Mexico, but rather occurs on a global scale.

He regretted that the editorial cover of the influential American newspaper was published just one day after the failed assassination attempt against the former president of the United States.

He even highlighted that the magnate Elon Musk, owner of several global companies such as Space X and the social network X, criticized the editors of the New York Times considering them as human beings insensitive and lacking empathy for that editorial.

Musk announced on Tuesday that he would contribute $45 million a month to Trump’s campaign, which is competing for the White House against President Joe Biden, who is leading the Democratic Party ticket.

“I’m going to tell you something that happened two days ago, it’s in the New York Times a very rude cover against former President Trump, after the attack. In bad taste! Acting like a rag, the New York Times. And Musk answers him in a message from X. We are talking about this media crisis, so that we are not thinking that it is only Mexico,” said López Obrador.

He asked his communications team to project both the content of the American media and the tycoon’s response on the screen in the Treasury room.

The head of the Executive read a translation of the content of the New York newspaper. “That is the front page: ‘He failed the tests of leadership and betrayed America. Voters must reject him in November.’ This is what the front page says. New York Times. And it’s after the attack, and it’s your editorial! Imperative, authoritarian.”

Immediately after, he highlighted the response of the owner of X. “And Musk tells them: ‘you are truly insensitive and despicable human beings, not one bit of empathy’. Because they do it the day after the attack.”

The president stressed that this situation would not occur in Mexican media, even in those he has accused of manipulative and biased.

“You ask me where there is more manipulation. Well, if we stick to this, there (in the northern neighbor), because we are not talking about any newspaper, it is the New York Times”.