SANEWASHING: DID THE NEW YORK TIMES INITIALLY CENSOR A REPORTER'S REFERENCE TO TRUMP'S DICK JOKE?

You probably know already that Donald Trump had a moment of disinhibition yesterday while campaigning at the Arnold Palmer Regional Airport in Latrobe, Pennsylvania, which is named after one of the most successful golfers of the 1950s and 1960s:

OMFG -- "When he took showers with the other pros, they came out of there, they said 'oh my god. That's unbelievable" -- Trump says that when other golfers showered with Arnold Palmer they would marvel at how big his dick is

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— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar.bsky.social) October 19, 2024 at 6:24 PM

When this happened, The New York Times published two brief reports from reporter Michael Gold on its campaign blog. Neither one made reference to Trump's bizarrely inappropriate dick joke:

A Times reader emailed Gold to complain about this sanewashing:

You can also email him personally at Michael.gold@nytimes.com like I did

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— Branden McEuen and it’s the same but he’s spooky so it’s not (@bmceuen.bsky.social) October 19, 2024 at 8:56 PM

Gold replied that he'd included a reference to the dick joke in one of his posts, but his editors had removed it:

He has replied and said to direct your attention to senioreditor@nytimes.com

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— Branden McEuen and it’s the same but he’s spooky so it’s not (@bmceuen.bsky.social) October 19, 2024 at 9:05 PM

The Times has now published a full story by Gold, and it leads with the dick joke:

At a Pennsylvania Rally, Trump Descends to New Levels of Vulgarity

The G.O.P. nominee repeated crude insults, and his supporters relished each moment. But the display could alienate swing voters.

Former President Donald J. Trump on Saturday spewed crude and vulgar remarks at a rally in Pennsylvania that included an off-color remark about a famous golfer’s penis size and a coarse insult about Vice President Kamala Harris.

The performance, 17 days before the election in a critical battleground state, added to the impression of the Republican nominee as increasingly unfiltered and undisciplined. It comes as some of Mr. Trump’s allies and aides worry that Mr. Trump’s temperament and crass style are alienating undecided voters.

Did reader complaints pressure the Times to run this story? Or was it the fact that most other media organizations, including The Washington Post, AP, CNN, USA Today, and even Fox, recognized the news value of the joke?

I can only assume that the initial decision not to publish Gold's dispatch as he wrote it was based on the bizarre affirmative action the Times practices with regard to Trump. When its reporters write about Trump and a Democratic opponent -- or, really, about all Republicans and Democrats -- it seems to seek equality of outcomes for Republicans rather than equally fair coverage. By "equality of outcomes" I mean that the Times wants readers to walk away never believing that Republicans are more extreme, more dangerous, or more unhinged than Democrats, even when it's objectively true that they are. Kamala Harris and Tim Walz aren't talking about anyone's genital size in their campaign speeches, so it's simply unfair for the Times to report that Trump is. That seems to have been the initial editorial judgment in this case.

*****

Is this age-related mental decline? I'm not sure. I remember that eight years ago Trump alluded to sexual activity on a successful real estate developer's yacht in a speech he gave at the Boy Scout Jamboree. In that speech, he refrained from saying anything explicit:

And he went out and bought a big yacht, and he had a very interesting life. I won’t go any more than that, because you’re Boy Scouts so I’m not going to tell you what he did.

(CROWD CHANTING)

Should I tell you? Should I tell you?

(APPLAUSE)

You’re Boy Scouts, but you know life. You know life.

So look at you. Who would think this is the Boy Scouts, right? So he had a very, very interesting life....

On the one hand, he showed greater restraint in 2017. On the other hand: He said this to an audience full of Boy Scouts!

But what he's doing now is working. He may even be a slight favorite to win the election. So instead of asking, as Harris's campaign frequently does, "Is Donald Trump okay?," maybe we need to ask: Is America okay?