NYT's Headline About Biden's New 'Convicted Criminal' Trump Ad Gets Brutal Fact-Check

Critics called out the New York Times for their bizarre headline about a new ad from President Joe Biden's campaign slamming "Convicted Criminal" Donald Trump.

Earlier the Biden campaign published an ad with the following message:

"Donald Trump is a convicted felon who has been found liable for sexual assault and committed financial fraud. This election is between a convicted criminal who’s only out for himself and a president who’s fighting for your family."

The ad was released nearly three weeks after Trump became the first former president to be convicted of felony crimes. A New York jury last month found him guilty on all 34 counts of falsifying business records to conceal hush money payments to porn star Stormy Daniels to illegally influence the 2016 election. His sentencing is set for July 11.

You can see the ad below.

Shortly after the Biden campaign's ad went viral, the New York Times published an article under the following headline:

"Biden Campaign Ad Paints Trump as a Felon"

You can see it below.

The New York Times

The newspaper also featured the same article under a slightly altered headline:

"In Advance of the Debate Biden Campaign Ad Paints Trump as a Felon"

You can see it below.

The New York Times

But the question was soon asked: how can Biden be "painting" Trump as a felon when he has actually been convicted of felonies?

It didn't make any sense—and people were quick to fact-check the New York Times for its irresponsible headline.

The 34 felony guilty verdicts against Trump sparked a wave of violent rhetoric targeting the prosecutors, judge, and jurors involved in the case.

Advance Democracy, a nonprofit organization that conducts public interest research, reported a high volume of social media posts containing violent rhetoric aimed at Judge Juan Merchan and Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg, including one post revealing Bragg’s purported home address.

Trump has continued to lash out, falsely claiming that he is the victim of "weaponization" of the Justice Department by the Biden administration. This is a lie on its face since the DoJ passed on prosecuting Trump for the same crimes before Alvin Bragg, the elected Manhattan District Attorney who is not directed by or connected to the Justice Department, brought state charges against Trump, not federal.