Reporter resigns from NY Post over Harris book story

A reporter for the New York Post whose byline appeared on a story suggesting that copies of a book by Vice President Harris was given to children who crossed the U.S.-Mexico border has resigned.

Laura Italiano announced on Twitter that she turned in her resignation on Tuesday. She claimed that she unsuccessfully tried to push back against the story, and called it her “breaking point.”

“An announcement: Today I handed in my resignation to my editors at the New York Post,” Italiano tweeted.

“The Kamala Harris story — an incorrect story I was ordered to write and which I failed to push back hard enough against — was my breaking point,” she said. “It’s been a privilege to cover the City of New York for its liveliest, wittiest tabloid — a paper filled with reporters and editors I admire deeply and hold as friends. I’m sad to leave.”

The Kamala Harris story — an incorrect story I was ordered to write and which I failed to push back hard enough against — was my breaking point.

— Laura Italiano (@Italiano_Laura) April 27, 2021

It’s been a privilege to cover the City of New York for its liveliest, wittiest tabloid — a paper filled with reporters and editors I admire deeply and hold as friends. I’m sad to leave.

— Laura Italiano (@Italiano_Laura) April 27, 2021

The Hill has reached out to the New York Post for comment.

The story, which was first published last week, alleged that children who crossed the border were getting copies of Harris’s book as part of a “welcome kit.” Conservatives promoted the story, causing it to go viral.

The Washington Post largely found that the story was false. They only found one photograph of a single copy of Harris’s book “Superheroes are Everywhere” that was donated.

The story was temporarily removed on Tuesday, and has since been republished with an editor’s note advising that only “one known copy of the book” was given to a child.

“The original version of this article said migrant kids were getting Harris’s book in a welcome kit, but has been updated to note that only one known copy of the book was given to a child,” the note said.