New York Magazinewas accused by attendees of a pro-Trumpinauguration party of misleading readers by claiming the people there were almost entirely white. Republican Youth Advisory Council co-chair CJ Pearson, who hosted the event profiled in NY Mag‘s latest cover story was also among several conservatives who pointed out that the magazine appeared to crop Black attendees out of the image that ran on the magazine’s cover page (they appear unobstructed in the lead image of the story in print and online). “This is insane. I hosted this event and [New York Magazine] intentionally left me out of their story because it would have undermined their narrative that MAGA is some racist cult,” he tweeted. The story in question, which ran under the headline “The Cruel Kids’ Table,” is an inside account of socializing among a reportedly youthful, urban MAGA set at D.C. bistro Butterworth’s—one attendee cited a reactionary grievance, their desire to utter slurs for gay and disabled people without social consequence, as a reason for their Trump support. NY Mag reported that “almost everyone is white” and quoted a woman at the party as saying, “Have you noticed the entire room is white?” Rob Smith, a conservative consultant who was at the event, tweeted a direct challenge to that characterization, writing he “saw MANY other Conservative media influencers who are Black, Latino, Asian, etc.” NY Mag’s parent company, Vox Media, did not respond to a request for comment from the Daily Beast.
New York Magazine literally cropped all the black people out of this cover photo and then complained that “the entire room is white” https://t.co/gCatY1lZzGpic.twitter.com/VhoaiJhqg1
— Christopher Barnard (@ChrisBarnardDL) January 27, 2025