Thursday was likely the last day of testimony in the Sarah Palin libel case against the NY Times. Palin said it was devastating to read the paper’s editorial, linking her to the 2017 shooting of Steve Scalise and other Republicans.
Caroline Vakil reports at The Hill:
Palin testifies it was ‘devastating’ to read New York Times editorial at center of trialFormer vice presidential candidate and ex-Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin (R) testified on Thursday during her defamation trial against The New York Times that it was “devastating” to read the 2017 editorial at the center of the case and claimed the newspaper had tried to “politicize horrific violence,” The Associated Press reported.Palin is suing the newspaper for defamation over an editorial it published on June 14, 2017, titled “America’s Lethal Politics.” The column was published following the shooting at a congressional baseball practice that left Rep. Steve Scalise (R-La.) wounded.In the editorial, the newspaper also mentioned a 2011 shooting that left six people dead and wounded former Rep. Gabrielle Giffords (D-Ariz.) and appeared to link the incident to an ad that Palin’s political action committee made prior to the shooting.
Reuters has more:
Sarah Palin felt ‘powerless’ vs ‘Goliath’ NY Times – testimonySarah Palin said at her defamation trial against the New York Times (NYT.N) on Thursday she felt “powerless” after a 2017 editorial incorrectly linked the prominent Republican to a mass shooting six years earlier, accusing the newspaper of trying to “score political points.”Before both sides rested their cases, the former Alaska governor and 2008 Republican U.S. vice presidential candidate told jurors in Manhattan federal court that she was “mortified” after the editorial appeared to connect her to inciting murder.”It’s hard to lay your head on a pillow and have a restful night when you know that lies are told about you, a specific lie that was not going to be fixed,” Palin testified under questioning from her lawyer. “That causes some stress anyone would feel.”
Seth Stevenson of the liberal outlet Slate has decided that Palin has already lost:
The Brutal Moment That Sarah Palin’s Testimony Fell Apart at the NYT TrialWhen Palin was asked about the accusations that proliferated in the immediate wake of that 2011 shooting—accusations falsely suggesting that she had helped incite the violence—she said they were “mortifying, because I knew what the truth was.” She remembered that she, and her children, had received many death threats around that time.I admit, at this point in her testimony, I was a little impressed. Palin in no way resembled the caricature I had in my head. She was confident, articulate, and—somewhat to my surprise—quite lucid. I’m not saying she was Stephen Hawking, but she at least evinced a sort of horse sense, paired with grinning charisma, that you could imagine might make her an effective mayor or governor. Then, about a half hour in, the wheels came off.Palin’s own attorney asked her to shift her focus forward from 2011 to 2017, when a New York Times editorial revived that false connection between Palin’s rhetoric and the Giffords shooting (thereby provoking this lawsuit). Palin responded by saying the Times had “lied” about it “again.” A lawyer for the Times objected, for obvious reasons: No one—including Palin in her filed complaint—has ever alleged that the New York Times got this wrong on any other occasion aside from that one editorial.
More from Erik Wemple of the Washington Post:
Previous reports:
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