Liberals scolds NY Times’ Maggie Haberman for saving Trump election quote for her book: 'Conflict of interest'
Keith Olbermann was particularly peeved with Haberman
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}New York Times reporter Maggie Haberman took heat from liberals on Monday when she was accused of sitting on damning information about former President Trump to save it for her forthcoming book.
CNN reported on an advanced copy of Haberman’s upcoming book that claims then-President Trump told anonymous aides he did not plan to leave the White House following the 2020 election loss. Once CNN published the allegation, Haberman quickly took heat from the left, who believe the Times scribe should have reported the claim when she learned it instead of saving it for a book.
"Oh good, another fact, vital to the safety and continuation of the nation, that @maggieNYT withheld from the public for many months if not a year-and-a-half so she could put it in her f-----g book," former MSNBC host Keith Olbermann tweeted.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}New York Times reporter Maggie Haberman took heat from liberals on Monday morning over a Donald Trump anecdote in her book. (kepplespeakers.com)
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In a follow-up tweet, Olbermann added, "You know what? @January6thCmte needs to subpoena @maggieNYT about this quote, when she learned of it, and what other knowledge of Trump's conspiracy she's keeping away from the public."
Activist John Pavlovitz wrote, "Maggie Haberman is another in a long line of people who were willing to let democracy die on the altar of a book deal."
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}"Maggie Haberman is trending. She's not dead, but her integrity is," one user snarked.
Some on the left even called for Haberman’s book to be boycotted.
"Why didn’t Maggie Haberman report on this in real time? Don’t buy her book. Don’t reward this behavior," another liberal activist wrote.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}"I refuse to purchase Maggie Haberman's book," another user wrote.
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Haberman, who is also a CNN political analyst, was frequently lauded in the mainstream media for her coverage of the Trump White House with reports on palace intrigue, alleged Russian collusion and other anti-Trump storylines. She was part of the team awarded the 2018 Pulitzer Prize in National Reporting for coverage of alleged connections between Russian election interference and the Trump campaign. Many critics on the right have since called for the Times to return the award after the Robert Mueller investigation failed to find conclusive evidence of collusion.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}USA Today opinion columnist Michael J. Stern believes Haberman has a clear conflict of interest.
New York Times reporter Maggie Haberman upset Keith Olbermann and other left-wing pundits. (Julia Reinhart/ Getty Images)
"Maggie Haberman's new book includes Trump being so unhinged, he refused to leave the White House after losing," Stern wrote. "Journalists who write books have a conflict of interest when they withhold valuable information so they can include it in their book, years in the future. It stinks."
Haberman did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}"Maggie Haberman took leave from The Times to write her book. In the course of reporting the book, she shared considerable newsworthy information with The Times. Editors decided what news was best suited for our news report," a New York Times spokesperson told Fox News Digital.
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Many other liberals took to Twitter to scold Haberman, too:
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}In 2020, veteran journalist Bob Woodward also took heat from liberals after sitting on remarks Trump made about COVID in the early months of the outbreak that were later included in his book "Rage." Woodward wrote that Trump described coronavirus as "deadly stuff," even as he publicly compared it to a seasonal flu. A month later, Trump admitted to Woodward that "I still like playing it [the virus] down, because I don’t want to create a panic."
Journalist Bob Woodward during an appearance on "The Late Show." (THE COLBERT REPORT)
During an interview on NBC’s "Today," co-anchor Savannah Guthrie asked Woodward about criticism he’s received for sitting on the quotes – but the author insisted he did not realize Trump’s February comments were harmful until months later.