She gave the jury a detailed overview of her Alaskan family and her ascent in Republican politics.
After a lengthy testimony by the Times editor, Palin only lasted about 20 minutes during a civil trial in Manhattan federal courts.
On Thursday, she will return to court to address the core of the case: her claim that the newspaper damaged the reputation of her with an editorial linking her campaign rhetoric and a mass shooting. Closing arguments will be held Friday.
Palin, 57 years old, described herself to jurors as a single mom and grandmother who “holds down fort” for Alaska’s family when she is not advising them about the “good, bad, and ugly” aspects of politics. She also spoke out about her surprise at being elected vice-presidential candidate for 2008, and said, “I don’t think they were ready for me.”
James Bennet, an ex-editor of the Times editorial page, testified that Palin’s disputed words were a “terrible error” by him. He said, “We are human beings. We do make mistakes.”
In 2017, Palin sued the Times, claiming that it had damaged her career as a political commentator by publishing an editorial about gun control after U.S. Rep. Steve Scalise was injured when a man who has a history of anti–GOP activity opened fired on a Congressional baseball practice in Washington.
The Times reported in that Palin’s political-action committee contributed to violence by circulating a map of electoral areas that placed Giffords, along with 19 other Democrats, under stylized crosshairs.
Two days later, The Times corrected the editorial to state that the editorial “incorrectly stated that there was a link between political rhetoric and 2011 shooting” as well as that the map had been incorrectly described.
The jury will decide whether Bennet acted “actually malice,” which means he knew the content was incorrect, or “reckless disregard” of the truth. The affable Bennett admitted Wednesday that he had made mistakes in the editing, but he did not intend to do any harm.
He said that he regretted the decision “practically every day since” and added, “That’s on you.” It’s my mistake.
