Palin Testifies NYTimes Damaged Her Reputation

Sarah Palin, former Alaska governor and 2008 Republican vice-presidential candidate, testified in a Manhattan federal court on Monday that a 2017 New York Times editorial severely damaged her reputation. 

The editorial falsely connected an advertisement from her political action committee to inciting a mass shooting, causing her public profile to “crash,” she said. “It just kicked the oomph right out of you,” Palin told the jury, describing the personal toll.

Her testimony is part of a prolonged defamation lawsuit against The New York Times, which corrected the editorial’s error the day after its publication. This marks Palin’s second trial in the case, following a 2022 ruling against her by a federal judge and jury. An appeals court later overturned that decision, leading to the current retrial.

Closing arguments are set for Tuesday, after which the nine jurors will deliberate. 

The case, centered on the editorial titled “America’s Lethal Politics,” is viewed as a gauge of public sentiment toward press freedoms, especially as President Trump, now back in office, intensifies his criticism of the media.

The editorial, published by The Times’s editorial board, discussed a climate of violent political rhetoric following a shooting by a Bernie Sanders supporter at a congressional baseball practice. It referenced a 2011 Tucson, Arizona, shooting that killed six and injured others, including Representative Gabby Giffords. The piece wrongly suggested that a map from Palin’s PAC, featuring stylized crosshairs over Democratic districts, incited the 2011 attack.