New York Times deletes 9/11 tweet after backlash: 'Airplanes took aim and brought down the World Trade Center'
By Brian Flood | Fox News
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The New York Times caused an uproar on Wednesday with a now-deleted tweet and now-updated story that originally said “airplanes” were responsible for the tragic events of Sept. 11, 2001.
“18 years have passed since airplanes took aim and brought down the World Trade Center. Today, families will once again gather and grieve at the site where more than 2000 people died,” the Times’ verified Twitter account wrote in a message accompanying a story about 9/11 victims being remembered at Ground Zero.
The 9/11 anniversary message was immediately met with harsh criticism and was swiftly deleted.
“We've deleted an earlier tweet to this story and have edited for clarity. The story has also been updated,” the Times tweeted.
The updated tweet to promote the story said, “18 years after nearly 3,000 people were lost, families of those killed in the terror attacks will gather at the 9/11 memorial. There will be a moment of silence at 8:46 a.m., then the names of the dead — one by one — will be recited.”
The story, by James Barron, was also changed to note that “terrorists commandeered” the airplanes that brought down the World Trade Center.
The New York Times did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
“The @NYT says airplanes caused 9/11. Wrong. It was Muslim terrorists who waged jihad on American soil and killed thousands of our fellow countrymen in the name of their religion,” Fox News’ Todd Starnes wrote, while Fox News contributor Mike Huckabee noted that the paper doesn’t seem to “have much grasp on recent history.”
“Twin Towers NOT brought down because “airplanes took aim” at them, but b/c radical Islamists hijacked planes & took aim at them,” Huckabee added.
Many users compared the rhetoric in the Times tweet to an infamous remark made by Rep. Ilhan Omar, D-Minn., earlier this year when she said “some people did something” when describing the 9/11 attacks.
Many others rushed to Twitter to condemn the Gray Lady with messages ranging from sarcasm to outrage:
