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The New York Post deleted 2 stories falsely claiming the Biden administration was gifting Kamala Harris' book to migrant children

Apr 27, 2021, 23:12 IST
Business Insider
Kicking off her book tour, Sen. Kamala Harris, D-Calif. speaks at George Washington University in Washington, in this Wednesday, Jan. 9, 2019, file photo. Books by and about Kamala Harris are proving to be a popular purchase following the election. The Vice President-elect is the subject or author of four books on the Amazon top 10 Sunday, Nov. 8, 2020Sait Serkan Gurbuz, File/AP
  • The New York Post deleted two stories it published falsely claiming Kamala Harris' book was distributed to migrant children at a government shelter.
  • A spokesperson for the outlet told Insider the stories will be re-published with corrections and editor's notes.
  • The Post's reporting, which was circulated by other right-wing media, was debunked by media outlets.
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The New York Post deleted two stories it published falsely claiming that President Joe Biden's administration was gifting Vice President Kamala Harris' children's book to migrant children. A spokesperson for the outlet told Insider the stories will be re-published with corrections and editor's notes.

The newspaper first reported last week that Harris' 2019 book, "Superheroes Are Everywhere," was being distributed to migrant kids at a US government shelter in Long Beach, California. The story was featured on the newspaper's cover with the headline, "Kam On In: Solo kids at border welcomed with copy of veep's book."

Fox News published a similar story and other right-wing media outlets promoted the claims without verifying them. Fox's White House correspondent, Peter Doocy, asked White House press secretary Jen Psaki about it during Monday's press briefing. Psaki said she hadn't read the story and would need to review the claims.

By Tuesday morning, media outlets had already debunked the Post's reporting. The Washington Post reported that a single copy of Harris' book was donated to the Department of Health and Human Services-funded shelter by a community member. The only evidence to support the false story was a single Reuters photograph of the book propped against a backpack on a table at the shelter.

"The City of Long Beach, in partnership with the Long Beach Convention and Visitors Bureau, has a citywide book and toy drive that is ongoing to support the migrant children who are temporarily staying in Long Beach at the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services shelter," city spokesman Kevin Lee told The Washington Post. "The book you reference is one of hundreds of books that have already been donated. The book was not purchased by HHS or the City."

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As of Tuesday morning, the New York Post had deleted both its original story and a follow-up story on Monday titled, "Psaki has no answers when asked about Harris' book being given to child migrants." The links to both stories redirect to the newspaper's homepage. CNN's Daniel Dale was the first to report the follow-up story had been deleted.

But Fox's story, which was co-authored by the reporter who wrote the Post's cover story, is still on the outlet's website.

A Fox spokesperson didn't immediately respond to Insider's request for comment.

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