Congressman Lee Zeldin stands on stage during his stump speech, before an alleged attack on him, in Fairport, New York, United States, July 21, 2022. Ian Winner/Handout via REUTERS
Critics called out a New York Times headline for making the news about Republican gubernatorial candidate Lee Zeldin’s attacker being released without bail more of a story on how the GOP is aggressively going after New York bail laws allegedly for political gain.
After the suspect who attempted to maim and/or murder Representative Zeldin, R-N.Y., during a campaign speech on Thursday was released from jail only hours later without bail, the New York Times wrote an article headlined, "G.O.P. Assails N.Y. Bail Laws After Suspect in Zeldin Attack Is Released."
Twitter users blasted the report, claiming this was just another iteration of the "Republicans pounce" attack line leftist journalists have used to smear conservatives as overzealous in their reactions to political incidents.
The text of the article read, "An attempted assault on Representative Lee Zeldin, the Republican candidate for governor of New York, inflamed a fierce debate over the state’s public safety laws on Friday, hours after a man accused of charging the candidate with a pointed weapon was released without bail."
The piece added, "But he [Zeldin] and his allies argued on Friday that the episode viscerally drove home the need to increase policing and tighten New York’s bail laws to make it easier for judges to hold people charged with certain crimes."
It continued to strike the tone that Zeldin and Republicans were aggressively politicizing this attack on the congressman and spinning it for political advantage. "Republicans wasted little time in claiming that the attack — and Mr. Jakubonis’s release — demonstrated the failure of the bail law enacted by Democrats in recent years. And they sought to use it to press an advantage in New York congressional races, as well."
Conservatives on Twitter appeared disgusted with the Times’ tone.
NewsBusters managing editor Curtis Houck rebuked the outlet, tweeting, "’G.O.P. Assails N.Y. Bail Laws.’ I guess this is the new pouncing and seizing?"
The Dispatch managing editor Rachael Larimore shared Houck’s tweet to her page and added her own comment, tweeting, "Good news everyone. The NYT sprung for a thesaurus."
LEE ZELDIN SAYS BLACK BELT TRAINING HELPED HIM FEND OFF ATTACKER: 'THAT WAS PRETTY NUTS'
Rep. Lee Zeldin, R-N.Y., was attacked during a gubernatorial campaign stop in Perinton, New York on Thursday night where an individual allegedly pulled out a sharp object. (Ian Winner)
Conservative pundit Mary Katherine Ham tweeted out a fake headline mocking the outlet. "Republicans pounce on leniency toward dude who pounced on Republican," she wrote.
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Florida Health Department press secretary Jeremy Redfern took issue with the article referring to the attack on Zeldin as an "incident" in its subheadline. He tweeted, "’The incident.’ So, this wasn’t an attack on democracy?"
New York Republican gubernatorial candidate Rep. Lee Zeldin was attacked by a man with a weapon at a campaign stop Thursday night. (Zeldin Campaign)