میدل-ایست-آیThe Times of London duped by con artist into publishing an attack on Mamdani
The Times of London duped by con artist into publishing an attack on Mamdani
The British paper has now apologised and deleted the article after being tricked by someone pretending to be former New York mayor Bill de Blasio
New York mayoral candidate Zohran Mamdani speaks during an election rally in New York City, 26 October (AFP)
Off
The Rupert Murdoch-owned Times of London has removed an article it published supposedly quoting former New York mayor Bill de Blasio criticising Zohran Mamdani, after it emerged the paper was tricked by someone impersonating de Blasio.
The real de Blasio has been a strong supporter of Mamdani, the 33-year-old Democratic nominee and surprise frontrunner in the New York mayoral election.
The Times, one of Britain's most prestigious newspapers, published a piece on Tuesday quoting de Blasio as he attacked Mamdani's policy proposals.
According to the piece, de Blasio said "in my view, the math doesn’t hold up under scrutiny, and the political hurdles are substantial".
A spokesperson for Mamdani's rival candidate Andrew Cuomo shared the interview on social media.
But it soon emerged that the story was not true after the former New York mayor emphatically refuted the claims made in the article.
De Blasio wrote on X that the story "is entirely false and fabricated".
"It was just brought to my attention and I’m appalled," he said. "I never spoke to that reporter and never said those things."
De Blasio demanded that the paper "pull down this story immediately", calling it an "absolute violation of journalistic ethics".
The Times, it soon emerged, had quoted someone pretending to be the former mayor.
The paper said on Tuesday night that it had "apologised to Bill de Blasio and removed the article immediately after discovering that our reporter had been misled by an individual falsely claiming to be the former New York mayor".
The real de Blasio insisted that he supports Mamdani "and believes his vision is both necessary and achievable".
Mamdani's policy platform includes plans to abolish bus fares, freeze rent on rent-stabilised apartments and make childcare free and universal.
The policies are popular with New York residents, with polling showing he has a healthy double digit lead over Cuomo.
However, his criticism of Israel has attracted a steady stream of attacks by US political figures and media outlets, including the sister outlet of the Times, the Murdoch-owned New York Post.
Mamdani has previously called de Blasio the best mayor of his lifetime.
Post Date Override
0
Update Date
Update Date Override
0
