The fake new media rejects the idea that has become “the enemy of the people,” but the New York Times was recently snared sowing the seeds of discord by pushing false reports the Trump Administration scuttled the Harriet Tubman $20 over racism. When a major media outlet such as the New York Times conducts itself like a Nazi propaganda ministry, Americans have no choice but to draw a line in the sand between those who stand for truth and those who do not.
The recent dustup stems from a report that U.S. Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin had called off an Obama-era proposal to put the famed African-American abolitionist on the $20 — replacing President Andrew Jackson — at the request of President Donald Trump. Although the president had criticized the change, calling in more “political correctness,” design efforts remained in the works.
But changing currency plates is no longer a matter of swapping out images. The next-generation technology that prevents global counterfeiting comprises the majority of the redesign work. On the tech side of printing money, the government’s cybersecurity sector reportedly informed Mnuchin and the administration a lengthy delay was ahead.
“There is a group of experts that’s interagency, including the Secret Service and others and B.E.P., that are all career officials that are focused on this,” Secretary Mnuchin said, referencing the Bureau of Engraving and Printing. “They’re working as fast as they can.”
Rather than take the Treasury Secretary at his word, the New York Times pushed a fiction that the plates were ready, and it was all about racism. The publication went as far as to say that the proposed Tubman “preliminary design was completed in late 2016.”
Then the report did what so many fake news organizations do — cite an anonymous source targeting the president.
“The development of the note did not stop there. A current employee of the bureau, who asked not to be named because of the sensitivity of the matter, personally viewed a metal engraving plate and a digital image of a Tubman $20 bill while it was being reviewed by engravers and Secret Service officials as recently as May 2018. This person said that the design appeared to be far along in the process,” according to the unnamed source.
But the fake news report didn’t just stop with unnamed false statements. The liberal propaganda outlet went as far as to publish an image of a Tubman $20, making it seem as if the plates were ready for the printer. In a classic fake news maneuver, the Times quoted its go-to political hatchet sources to drive the false narrative the president had derailed the process.
“The Trump administration’s indefinite postponement of this redesign is offensive to women and girls, and communities of color, who have been excitedly waiting to see this woman and civil rights icon honored in this special way,” Democrat Sen. Jeanne Shaheen said.
But the problem for outlets that are the enemy of the truth and American people is they will eventually get caught. Such is the case with this issue. The U.S. Treasury has corrected the widespread fake news reporting sparked by the New York Times.
“To keep our currency safe and secure, it is unwise to give counterfeiters a look at a potential future note far in advance of a note going into circulation,” Bureau of Engraving and Printing Director Len Olijar stated. “No Bureau or Department official has ‘scrapped’ anything; it is too early to develop an integrated concept or design until security features are finalized. The aesthetics or look of the note has always come after and been driven by the security features.”
As the facts surfaced, it has become apparent that the NY Times pushed a concept likeness of the Tubman $20 floated in proposals years ago. That image is not the same one being developed for a possible 2030 launch.
“It is not a new $20 note, as incorrectly stated by the New York Times, in any way, shape or form,” director Olijar said. “The facsimile contained no security features or offset printing included on currency notes.”
Busted.
