NYT editorial board member says it's 'silly' for journalists to hold Harris and Trump equally accountable

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NYT editorial board member: ‘Silly’ to hold Harris and Trump equally accountable

New York Times editorial board member Mara Gay told MSNBC's ‘Morning Joe’ it feels "a little silly" for journalists to hold all candidates 'accountable equally.'

New York Times editorial board member Mara Gay said it's "a little silly" for journalists to hold Vice President Kamala Harris to the same standards as former President Trump.

Gay was a guest on Thursday’s "Morning Joe," where eponymous MSNBC host Joe Scarborough bemoaned the "sacrosanct" wall between editorials and news when it comes to the presidential candidates, adding how absurd it was to believe there was a "moral equivalency" between criticizing Trump and Harris. 

Gay agreed the "choice is obvious" between the two, suggesting there needs to be a different standard applied to Trump.

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MSNBC's "Morning Joe" mocked the idea of holding former President Trump and Vice President Kamala Harris equally accountable. (Getty Images)

"I think the challenge, not just for journalists, but really for the country, is that not only is Donald Trump a threat, but, you know, it lowers the bar. So I don’t think it’s unacceptable. And I think it’s important for our role as journalists to really push every candidate for office," Gay said.

"And there are plenty of things that we could hear from the vice president that we’d love to hear more about policy speeches," she continued. "It’d be great to see her take more questions from the press. Those things are important. 

"It’s just the context is difficult because of the extremism of the Republican Party, because of how extreme Donald Trump is, it’s hard to hold both candidates accountable equally, because one is committed to democracy and is functioning as a normal candidate from a normal American party, and the other is not." 

NYT editorial board member Mara Gay appeared on Thursday's "Morning Joe." (MSNBC screenshot)

"And so, you know, this is really about the extremism of the Republican ticket. And it’s important to hold all candidates accountable. It’s just that when you do that, it does sometimes sound a little silly, because given the breadth of what the vice president is offering the American people, there is no comparison with Donald Trump," Gay concluded.

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The NYT editorial board announced last month that it would no longer be making endorsements for state and local races, though it would still endorse presidential candidates.

"As the institutional voice of The Times, the editorial board serves our mission to help our global audience understand the world by providing a consistent, independent view of the world based on time-tested institutional values," Times opinion editor Kathleen Kingsbury said in a statement given to Fox News Digital at the time.

The New York Times announced in August that it would no longer be endorsing candidates in local and state offices. (Jakub Porzycki/NurPhoto via Getty Images)

"While elections everywhere remain critical to the lives and experiences of our audience, the editorial board is ceasing the endorsement process for New York elections. We remain a journalistic institution rooted in New York City, both historically, today and in the future. Our newsroom will continue to report aggressively on New York electoral races, and Opinion will continue to offer perspective on the races, candidates and issues at stake."

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