TROUBLEMAKERS

White House Uses NYT-Spoofing X Account to Further Feud With the Paper

The Biden White House has found creative ways to get under the Times’ skin, according to a new report.

The White House has grown so frustrated with The New York Times’ coverage of President Joe Biden that it’s opted to pitch ideas to one of the paper’s most public critics: the NYT Pitchbot account on X. According to a Politico report on the simmering tensions between the Times and the White House, deputy press secretary Andrew Bates has developed such a rapport with the Pitchbot account to the point where he has suggested content it could post. The parody account tweets out fake headlines that often spoof how the Times has covered the Biden administration. The account has become a favorite of Biden’s, prompting a reference during his speech at the 2023 White House Correspondents’ Dinner. “I love that guy,” Biden said. “I should do an interview with him.” The piece recounted the paper and its publisher’s anger with Biden’s team over his refusal to sit for an interview.