The New York Times’ opinion section on Thursday deleted a tweet from its official account asking whether alleged sexual assault victim Christine Blasey Ford’s testimony is "credible."
The Twitter account asked about Ford’s testimony while she was still testifying to the Senate about the assault she alleges happened at the hands of Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh. The tweet was in the form of a poll open to anyone to answer.
"Christine Blasey Ford is testifying before the Senate Judiciary Committee today. Do you find her testimony credible?" the Twitter account asked. "Yes," "No," and "Unsure" were the three options.
The tweet drew scorn from Twitter users, and it was deleted not long after and replaced with an apology.
"We're sorry for this tweet. In retrospect, a Twitter poll is insensitive in light of the gravity of this hearing. We've deleted it," the new tweet said.
We're sorry for this tweet. In retrospect, a Twitter poll is insensitive in light of the gravity of this hearing. We've deleted it. pic.twitter.com/4CqRhkuCat
— New York Times Opinion (@nytopinion) September 27, 2018
In a second tweet, the account said it had planned a similar tweet asking about Kavanaugh’s credibility.
"We also recognize that asking only about Dr. Blasey's credibility was inappropriate. We had intended to tweet a second poll about Judge Kavanaugh's credibility this afternoon," the tweet said.
Ford spent the morning answering questions about her claim that Kavanaugh groped her and forced himself on her during a gathering in high school. Kavanaugh is set to testify later in the day.
Vox’s Dylan Matthews tweeted a picture of the poll, showing that 88 percent of respondents found Ford's testimony "credible." He made fun of the tweet by comparing it to a poll posted last year by the "Scaramucci Post." The Twitter account, associated with former Trump official Anthony Scaramucci, asked an offensive question about the Holocaust.
https://twitter.com/dylanmatt/status/1045346035814535170