Sarah Palin tells defamation trial jury that Times editorial 'kicked the oomph' out of her

NEW YORK (AP) — Former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin testified Monday at a defamation trial that an editorial about gun control in The New York Times in 2017 was devastating and “kicked the oomph” out of her.

The former Republican candidate for vice president whose college degree is in journalism answered questions in Manhattan federal court at a trial of her libel claims against the newspaper. She seeks unspecified damages.

“This was the gamechanger,” Palin said of the effect on her life after the newspaper in June 2017 published the editorial that became the subject of her lawsuit. “I felt defenseless. It just kicked the oomph right out of you.”

The editorial was written after U.S. Rep. Steve Scalise, a Louisiana Republican, was wounded when a man with a history of anti-GOP activity opened fire on a congressional baseball team practice in Washington.

In the editorial, the Times wrote that before the 2011 mass shooting in Arizona that severely wounded former U.S. Rep. Gabby Giffords and killed six others, Palin’s political action committee had contributed to an atmosphere of violence by circulating a map of electoral districts that put Giffords and 19 other Democrats under stylized crosshairs.

In a correction published less than a day later, the Times said the editorial had “incorrectly stated that a link existed between political rhetoric and the 2011 shooting” and had “incorrectly described” the map.

But Palin said the correction didn’t name her or restore her reputation, leaving it hard to overcome “when the loudest voice in the room, the most credible, biggest publication, was making things up about me.”

She said she received death threats.

“It got scarier. It got worse,” Palin said.

On cross-examination, a lawyer for the Times elicited from Palin that she still has millions of social media followers, is a best selling author and remains welcome to speak at events sponsored by Republican organizations.

Palin told reporters afterward that she was “thankful for the opportunity” to testify and that she is confident the jury will decide in her favor. She said she left court “believing that there's still justice in the world” and "believing still that the press will be held accountable."

Last week, former Times editorial page editor James Bennet cried as he apologized to Palin from the witness stand, saying he “blew it” when he inserted the incorrect information in the editorial.

He said he was “really upset, and I still am, obviously.”

In February 2022, a jury found against Palin’s libel claims, but the 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Manhattan last year revived the case, citing errors made by the trial judge, including by dismissing the case while the last jury was deliberating.

After testimony concluded on Monday, lawyers asked Judge Jed S. Rakoff to make rulings in their favor as a matter of law rather than leaving everything for the jury to decide after closing arguments Tuesday. The judge rejected the requests.

“I think the 2nd Circuit has sent a message to this court that this is a case for the jury,” Rakoff said.

Former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin leaves Manhattan federal court, after testifying in her defamation trial against the New York Times, Monday, April 21, 2025, in New York. (AP Photo/Yuki Iwamura)

Former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin leaves Manhattan federal court, after testifying in her defamation trial against the New York Times, Monday, April 21, 2025, in New York. (AP Photo/Yuki Iwamura)

Former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin leaves Manhattan federal court, after testifying in her defamation trial against the New York Times, Monday, April 21, 2025, in New York. (AP Photo/Yuki Iwamura)

Former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin leaves Manhattan federal court, after testifying in her defamation trial against the New York Times, Monday, April 21, 2025, in New York. (AP Photo/Yuki Iwamura)

Former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin leaves Manhattan federal court, after testifying in her defamation trial against the New York Times, Monday, April 21, 2025, in New York. (AP Photo/Yuki Iwamura)

Former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin leaves Manhattan federal court, after testifying in her defamation trial against the New York Times, Monday, April 21, 2025, in New York. (AP Photo/Yuki Iwamura)

Former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin leaves Manhattan federal court, after testifying in her defamation trial against the New York Times, Monday, April 21, 2025, in New York. (AP Photo/Yuki Iwamura)

Former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin arrives to a Manhattan federal court in New York, Monday, April 21, 2025. (AP Photo/Seth Wenig)

The White House is planning on Friday to unveil President Donald Trump’s 2026 budget, a sweeping framework that's expected to propose steep reductions, if not a wholesale zeroing out, of various federal programs as part of his administration’s priorities.

Meanwhile, the Trump administration has asked the Supreme Court to strip temporary legal protections from 350,000 Venezuelans, potentially exposing them to being deported.

Here's the latest:

“We are going to be taking away Harvard’s Tax Exempt Status,” he wrote on his social media site Friday morning. “It’s what they deserve!”

Trump and his White House have repeatedly gone after Harvard. In addition to threatening its tax-exempt status, the administration has halted more than $2 billion in grants to Harvard and wants to block the school from being able to enroll international students.

The detailed Army plans for a potential military parade on Trump’s birthday in June call for more than 6,600 soldiers, at least 150 vehicles, 50 helicopters, seven bands and possibly a couple thousand civilians, The Associated Press has learned.

The planning documents, obtained by the AP, are dated April 29 and 30 and have not been publicly released. They represent the Army’s most recent blueprint for its long-planned 250th anniversary festival on the National Mall and the newly added element — a large military parade that Trump has long wanted but is still being discussed.

The Army anniversary just happens to coincide with Trump’s 79th birthday on June 14.

While the slides do not include any price estimates, it would likely cost tens of millions of dollars to put on a parade of that size.

▶ Read more about the Army’s military parade plans

As Trump faces significant pushback from federal judges, a new poll shows U.S. adults are more likely to believe the president is the one overstepping his power rather than the courts -- although Republicans largely think the opposite.

According to a poll from The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research, about half of Americans say the president has “too much” power in the way government operates these days. On the other hand, Americans are more likely to believe the federal courts have an appropriate amount of authority. Only about 3 in 10 U.S. adults say that federal judges have “too much” power.

Republicans see it the other way: Roughly half say the federal judiciary has too much power, and only about 2 in 10 say the president does.

▶ Read more about the latest AP-NORC poll

When the Justice Department lifted a school desegregation order in Louisiana this week, officials called its continued existence a “historical wrong” and suggested that others dating to the Civil Rights Movement should be reconsidered.

The end of the 1966 legal agreement with Plaquemines Parish schools announced Tuesday shows the Trump administration is “getting America refocused on our bright future,” Assistant Attorney General Harmeet Dhillon said.

Inside the Justice Department, officials appointed by Trump have expressed a desire to withdraw from other desegregation orders they see as an unnecessary burden on schools, according to a person familiar with the issue who was granted anonymity because they were not authorized to speak publicly.

Dozens of school districts across the South remain under court-enforced agreements dictating steps to work toward integration, decades after the Supreme Court struck down racial segregation in education. Some see the court orders’ endurance as a sign the government never eradicated segregation, while officials in Louisiana and at some schools see the orders as bygone relics that should be wiped away.

▶ Read more about the end to the desegregation order

— Collin Binkley

Trump on Thursday signed an executive order aiming to slash public subsidies to PBS and NPR as he alleged “bias” in the broadcasters’ reporting.

The order instructs the Corporation for Public Broadcasting and other federal agencies “to cease Federal funding for NPR and PBS” and further requires that that they work to root out indirect sources of public financing for the news organizations. The White House, in a social media posting announcing the signing, said the outlets “receive millions from taxpayers to spread radical, woke propaganda disguised as ‘news.’”

It’s the latest move by Trump and his administration to utilize federal powers to control or hamstring institutions whose actions or viewpoints he disagrees with. Since taking office, Trump has ousted leaders, placed staff on administrative leave and cut off hundreds of millions of dollars in funding to artists, libraries, museums, theaters and others, through takeovers of the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts and the National Endowment for the Humanities.

▶ Read more about the executive order

Rubio has been thrown into two top national security jobs at once as Trump presses forward with his top-to-bottom revamp of U.S. foreign policy, upending not only longstanding policies that the former Florida senator once supported but also the configuration of the executive branch.

Trump’s appointment of Rubio to temporarily replace Mike Waltz as national security adviser is the first major leadership shake-up of the nascent administration, but Waltz’s removal had been rumored for weeks — ever since he created a Signal group chat and accidentally added a journalist to the conversation where top national security officials shared sensitive military plans.

So, just over 100 days into his tenure as America’s top diplomat, Rubio now becomes just the second person to hold both positions. He follows only the late Henry Kissinger, who served as both secretary of state and national security adviser for two years under Presidents Richard Nixon and Gerald Ford in the 1970s.

▶ Read more about Rubio’s new role

The Justice Department asked the high court to put on hold a ruling from a federal judge in San Francisco that kept in place Temporary Protected Status for the Venezuelans that would have otherwise expired last month.

The status allows people already in the United States to live and work legally because their native countries are deemed unsafe for return due to natural disaster or civil strife.

A federal appeals court had earlier rejected the administration’s request.

Trump’s administration has moved aggressively to withdraw various protections that have allowed immigrants to remain in the country, including ending TPS for a total of 600,000 Venezuelans and 500,000 Haitians. TPS is granted in 18-month increments.

The emergency appeal to the high court came the same day a federal judge in Texas ruled illegal the administration’s efforts to deport Venezuelans under an 18th-century wartime law. The cases are not related.

▶ Read more about the Trump administration’s request

President Donald Trump gives a commencement address at the University of Alabama, Thursday, May 1, 2025, in Tuscaloosa, Ala.(AP Photo/Manuel Balce Ceneta)

President Donald Trump gives a commencement address at the University of Alabama, Thursday, May 1, 2025, in Tuscaloosa, Ala. (AP Photo/Manuel Balce Ceneta)

President Donald Trump arrives to give a commencement address at the University of Alabama, Thursday, May 1, 2025, in Tuscaloosa, Ala.(AP Photo/Manuel Balce Ceneta)