In the video, which seems to have been filmed in a pub, the Times‘ London-based homepage editor, Desiree Shoe, is seen describing Trump as an “oblivious idiot.” She does not care for Trump’s potential replacement, either, describing Pence as “f**king horrible … possibly worse than Trump” because, she says, he is “extremely religious.”
Shoe, who is seen describing her job as curating the Times‘ front pages, also describes the approach of American journalists towards covering Trump during the 2016 election: “I think that one of the things that maybe journalists were thinking about is, like, “Oh, if we write about him, about how, like, insanely crazy he is and how ludicrous his policies are, then maybe people will read about it and be, like, ‘Oh, wow, like, we shouldn’t vote for him.'” In her description, the Times‘ front page is used to set the media narrative against Trump.
She also is shown describing President Trump as “apologetic toward white supremacists” due to his response to the violence in Charlottesville, Virginia, earlier this year, and says that Trump makes it difficult for journalists to be objective and unbiased.
In addition, Shoe is shown talking about the Times attracting liberal readers due to its coverage of Trump, and suggests that the Times feeds the demands of its audience through the tone of its coverage.
In his narration of the video, O’Keefe cites the Times‘ ethics handbook, which states: “Journalists have no place on the playing fields of politics. Staff members are entitled to vote, but they must do nothing that might raise questions about their professional neutrality or that of the Times.”