New York Times editorial board member Mara Gay is blaming a “racist Twitter mob” for the criticism of her major on-air math blunder last week.
Gay appeared on MSNBC’s The 11th Hour with Brian Williams on March 5 and discussed a tweet which claimed: “Bloomberg spent $500 million on ads. The U.S. population is 327 million. He could have given each American $1 million and still have money left over.”
Williams, Gay, and the show’s production team failed to notice the glaring math error – that $500 million split between 327 million is $1.53 per person, not $1 million per person – and the $1 million per person figure was discussed during the segment as if it were accurate.
Williams remarked, “When I read it tonight on social media, it kind of all became clear” while Gay said, “It’s an incredible way of putting it. It’s true.”
The segment quickly went viral with Twitter users mocking the glaring math error and expressing surprise at how MSNBC’s fact-checkers, writers, and producers along with Williams and Gay had managed to miss the error.
https://twitter.com/nate68978263/status/1235804379753492480
https://twitter.com/thetnholler/status/1235913628873904129
https://twitter.com/sunlorrie/status/1235912459548049410
https://twitter.com/bethforcongress/status/1235914521987948544
But despite most of the criticism being focused on math, Gay is claiming that “it wasn’t really about math.”
In an opinion piece published in The New York Times, Gay wrote: “When you’re a black woman in America with a public voice, a trivial math error can lead to a deluge of hate.”
She added that: “Across social media, right wing trolls celebrated. And some journalists did too. Most of them were men who are prolific on Twitter.”
In a tweet about the opinion piece, Gay also blamed “a racist Twitter mob” for the criticism of her math error.
https://twitter.com/maragay/status/1237832854991765504
Twitter users have pushed back against Gay’s claims and pointed out that there’s “nothing racist about people pointing out your glaring math error” while also highlighting that Williams was criticized for the same segment.
https://twitter.com/johncardillo/status/1237841605106663425
https://twitter.com/chuckrossdc/status/1237843788275388429
https://twitter.com/redsteeze/status/1237842803234750468
https://twitter.com/hale_razor/status/1237841300633735172
https://twitter.com/justinwhang/status/1237850656464973825
Since publishing the opinion piece, Gay has blocked several Twitter users who pointed out the criticism was about math, not race.
