North Korea threatens to resume nuclear testing with 'new strategic weapon'
Tensions rise between U.S. and North Korea; 'MediaBuzz' host Howard Kurtz reports.
"MediaBuzz" host Howard Kurtz criticized The New York Times Thursday for a tweet that referred to Iran-backed militia members who stormed the U.S. Embassy in Baghdad earlier this week as "Iraqi mourners."
"I'm scratching my head over this one," Kurtz said on "The Story."
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"I think it's outrageous that The Times' tweet will refer to 'mourners' ... these weren't a bunch of demonstrators who lost their heads. These are 'death to America'-type, Iranian-backed militias who went there for the express purpose of causing havoc, setting fires, possibly doing harm ... although fortunately, our defenses helped."
Crowds of angry Iraqis protesting America's recent airstrikes against an Iran-backed militia laid siege to the U.S. Embassy compound, chanting "Down, down USA!" as they stormed through the main gate, prompting U.S. guards to fire tear gas in response.
However, the Times offered a more sympathetic description of the mob.
"Hundreds of Iraqi mourners tried to storm the United States Embassy in Baghdad, shouting 'Down, down USA!,' in response to deadly American airstrikes this week that killed 25 fighters," the paper tweeted with its report. The report itself made no mention of "mourners" at the compound, although it noted that Iraq's prime minister "announced an official three-day mourning period for the men killed in the strikes."
The Times faced immediate backlash from many on social media, including Rep. Lee Zeldin, R-N.Y., a member of the House Foreign Affairs Committee.
Iraqi “mourners”? It’s like @JZarif has become the Managing Editor of the New York Times," Zeldin wrote, referring to Iran's foreign minister. "These are Iranian backed terrorists attacking US military personnel & diplomats shouting 'Death to America' as they try to break into the US Embassy in Baghdad setting fires on the way."
"You got to make clear to readers and viewers that whatever words you want to use, these were people that were intent on doing harm on our American embassy in Baghdad," Kurtz said.
Kurtz also cautioned liberal commentators against referring to the incident in Baghdad this week as "Trump's Benghazi" after MSNBC host Joy Reid tweeted the term in an attempt to draw parallels to the 2012 attack in Libya that left four Americans dead.
"As Trump's Benghazi unfolds in Iraq..." the MSNBC host tweeted while sharing a Twitter statement from President Trump that said, "Read the Transcripts!"
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"I still think it isn't a particularly good idea for liberal commentators to bring up Benghazi because what the White House will say, with some justification is 'We avoided any situation like Benghazi, we're getting troops there, nobody breached the inner walls,' and I think that is a losing argument," Kurtz said.
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"Thank god that that's been the case for our people stationed there," he added.
Fox News' Joseph A. Wolfsohn contributed to this report.
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